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A  Sketch  and  Some  Sketches 


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A  Sketch  and  Some  Sketches 

on 

Fire  Insurance 

and  its 

Kindred  Associates  and 
Associates  Not  Kindred 

by 

L.  J.  Bonar 


He  who  runs  may  read 
He  who  reads  may  run 


Mansfield,  Ohio 
December,  1920 


Copyrighted,  1921 

by 
L.  J.   BONAR 
Mansfield,  Ohio 


To  the  State  and  Special  Agents — to  my  personal 
friends  and  co-laborers  with  whom  I  have  had  business 
associations — with  some  for  many  and  with  others  for 
a  lesser  number  of  years — to  the  men  with  whom  I  have 
shared  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  hopes  and  disappoint- 
ments, the  anxieties  and  worries  incident  to  our  busi- 
ness, what  I  have  written  is  respectfully  dedicated,  in 
the  hope  that  it  may  serve  the  purpose  of  binding  us  in 
the  closer  ties  of  professional  Brotherhood. 

And  I  wish  to  here  express  my  appreciation  to  the 
members  of  the  History  Committee,  whose  advice, 
suggestions  and  encouragement  induced  me  to  under- 
take the  task  assigned  me. 

L.  J.  Bonar 
December,  1920. 


Introductory 

At  the  regular  meetings  of  the  two  Field  Organizations 
held  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  on  Tuesday,  January  5th,  1916, 
the  President  of  each  organization  was  instructed  to 
appoint  from  its  own  members,  a  committee  of  three — 
the  two  committees  thus  appointed  to  act  as  a  joint  com- 
mittee on  Insurance  History.  The  following  persons 
were  appointed: 

From  the  Ohio  Field  Club, 
E.  W.  Raynolds  Ray  Decker  A.  W.  Dorbert 

From  the  Fire  Underwriter's  Association, 
H.  W.  Clayton        Thomas  H.  Smith         Geo.  Diebold 

On  Monday  evening  preceding  the  February  meetings 
of  the  two  organizations,  I  met  by  invitation,  this  joint 
Committee  at  the  Hartman  Hotel,  Columbus,  where  I 
was  honored  by  them  with  a  complimentary  dinner.  A 
frank  and  full  discussion  of  the  project  under  consid- 
eration brought  out  expressions  from  the  members  of 
this  Committee  that  the  Field  men  of  Ohio  were  prac- 
tically unanimous  in  a  desire  to  have  something  prepared 
in  the  way  of  an  Insurance  History  of  Ohio,  and  that  in 
their  opinion,  I  was  the  person  who  had  been  commonly 
looked  to  to  take  up  such  a  task.  While  this  Commit- 
tee, in  a  spirit  of  fraternal  generosity,  extended  to  me 
unlimited  latitude  in  giving  my  own  personal  experien- 
ces, personal  recollections  and  incidents  in  my  own  life, 
they  carefully  avoided  "entangling  alliances"  by  not 
promising  to  read  what  I  might  write  or  to  subscribe  for 
any  number  of  volumes  of  the  book  that  might  be  pub- 
lished. Upon  consideration  of  the  wishes  expressed 
and  the  suggestions  made  to  me  by  this  Joint  Committee 
I  submitted  the  following  reply: 


Columbus,  Ohio,  February  1,  1916 

Mr.  I^.  W.  Raynolcls,  ] 

Mr.  Ray  Decker,  >  Committee  Field  Club. 

Mr.  A.  W.  Dorbert,     J 

Mr.  H.W.Clayton,    ] 

Mr.  Thos.  H.  Smith,  >Ohio  Underwriter's  Association. 

Mr.  Geo.  Diebold,      J 

Gentlemen: — I  wish  through  you  to  express  to  the  mem- 
bers of  our  two  Field  Organizations  my  appreciation  of 
the  personal  compliment  in  tendering  me  the  ofifice  of 
Insurance  Historian.  I  have  frecjuently  been  asked 
to  prepare  and  have  printed  some  of  my  personal  exper- 
iences in  the  business  but  I  have  uniformly  declined 
this  honor  for  the  reason  that  I  did  not  propose  by  any 
act  of  my  own,  to  set  myself  up  as  a  target  for  the  darts 
and  the  javelins  of  unfriendly  criticism.  Having  now 
discussed  the  proposition  quite  thoroughly  with  you  and 
having  arrived  at  final  conclusions  and  an  apparently 
satisfactory  agreement,  I  have  decided  that  should  the 
time,  the  opportunity  and  the  inclination,  present  them- 
selves to  me  hand  in  hand,  as  I  trust  they  may  at  some 
future  period,  I  will  undertake  the  work. 

In  the  performance  of  what  has  been  assigned  me  I 
will  necessarily  be  compelled  to  include  some  of  my  per- 
sonal recollections  and  experiences,  but  in  doing  so  I  will 
not,  I  hope,  be  influenced  by  any  personal  egotism. 
Feeling  as  I  do  that  I  can  engage  in  this  duty  without 
being  obliged  to  make  any  apologies,  I  will  endeavor  at 
some  future  date  to  present  to  my  Insurance  friends, 
something  in  the  way  of  a  History  of  the  Insurance 
Business  of  Ohio. 

Respectfully  yours, 

L.  J.  Bonar 


Columbus,  Ohio,  January  31,  1916 

The  Underwriter's  Field  Club  of  Ohio, 

Columbus,  Ohio 
Gentlemen: — Your  committee  on  a  History  of  the  In- 
surance Business  in  the  State  of  Ohio  met  with  a  like 
Committee  of  the  Bureau  organization  January  31,  6:30 
P.M.,  at  the  Hartman  Hotel,  Columbus,  with  the  follow- 
ing present:  Ray  Decker,  H.  W.  Clayton,  Thos.  H. 
Smith,  Geo.  Diebold  and  E.  W.  Raynolds.  On  invi- 
tation of  the  Committee  the  President  of  this  Club  met 
with  us 

On  motion,  Mr.  H.  W.  Clayton  was  elected  Chairman 
of  the  Joint  Committee. 

The  matter  was  thoroughly  discussed  with  President 
Bonar,  and  upon  receiving  the  assurances  of  the  Com- 
mittee that  he  would  not  be  limited  as  to  time  in  which 
to  produce  the  work,  that  there  was  a  popular  demand 
among  the  members  of  both  organizations  for  such  a 
work,  and  that  any  expense,  such  as  stenographic  work 
or  other  small  items  would  receive  the  approval  of  the 
Clubs,  that  gentleman  took  the  matter  under  advise- 
ment  and  promised  an  answer  on  the  following  morning. 
Copy  of  Mr.  Bonar's  acceptance  of  the  commission  is 
attached  hereto. 

The  committee  adjourned  subject  to  call  by  the 
chairman.  Respectfully  submitted, 

E.  W.  Raynolds,  Chairman 

Same  report  as  above  made  to  the  Ohio  Underwriter's 
Association 

Owing  to  changes  in  their  business  connections,  the 
members  of  the  Committee  from  the  Field  Club  were 
unable  to  serve  any  longer  and  the  following  named 
persons  were  appointed  to  succeed  them.  Mr.  Cyrus 
Woodbury,  Mr.  R.  L.  Raynolds,  Mr.  Walter  A.  Sawyer. 


Index 

Adjustments _ 142 

Aetna  Bible 26 

Appendix 177 

Audit  Bureau 48 

Beginning,  In  the 1 

Bennett,  Mr.  J.  B 23 

Brokers 11 

Cincinnati-.- 134 

Classification 92 

Cleveland--- - 129 

Combined  Policy,  Columbus - 96 

Commissions 91 

Competition 68 

Dayton 137 

DeCamp,  Mr.  J.  M 25 

Discovery  of  Steam  Power 17 

Early  History 7 

Expiration  Notices 90 

Fire  Departments- 80 

Fire  Marshal's  Department - - 35 

Fire  Prevention 38 

First  Fire  Engine- - -.- 79 

First  Local  Agencies 19 

First  Special  Agents 17 

Gangs 124 

Green  Tree  Insurance  Company - 15 

Honored  Associates 52 

Impressions 94 

Inspectors--.- 93 

Insurance  Blanks 84 

Insurance  Department - 33 

Insurance  Trust 60 

Introductory ix 


Law.  Mr.  John  H 24 

Lest  VVc  Forget , 181 

Local  Agents  Association 74 

Looking  Backward 4 

Magill,  Mr.  H.  M 22 

Mansfield —  138 

Map  Making 90 

Moorehead,  Mr.  Sam 97 

National  Board 26 

Ohio  Insurance  Exchange 66 

Ohio  Inspection  Bureau..- 44 

Ohio  Provisional  Committee 31 

Ohio  State  Board  (Members  of). .179 

Oldest  Stock  Company 12 

Old  Time  Agents 81 

Personal  History .101 

Presidents  N.  F.  U.  Association 66 

Promoters 93 

Put-in-Bay,  Meeting  at 65 

Rest,  Law  of 127 

Retired  Veterans ._  74 

Schedule  Rating 88 

Smith,  Mr.  John  E 72 

Solicitors 87 

State  Boards  and  Clubs 61 

Llnderwriting 20 

Valued  Policy 55 

Western  Adjustment  Company 49 

Western  Departments 21 

Youngstown 89 

Zanesville I39 


"Not  to  know  what  has  been  transacted  in  former 
times  is  to  be  always  a  child.  If  no  use  is  to  be  made 
of  the  labors  of  past  ages  the  world  must  always  remain 
in  the  infancy  of  knowledge." 


A  Sketch  and  Some  Sketches 

By  L.  J.  Bonar 


In  the  Beginning 

Within  an  hour  after  I  had  suppHed  my  earthly  taber- 
nacle with  the  usual  munitions  for  service,  I  found 
myself  sitting  in  my  office  chair  (one  of  those  Merry-go- 
round  affairs,)  and  without  any  definite  aims  or  plans 
before  me.  Just  then,  I  chanced  to  look  at  my  calendar 
on  the  wall,  which  indicated  to  me  that  this  was  the  14th 
day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1920.  This 
fact  started  a  train  of  thought,  as  well  as  an  inquiry, 
wherein  this  day  was  different  from  thousands  that 
had  preceded  or  from  thousands  that  w^ould  follow  it. 
In  the  common  hum-drum  of  this  busy  life  with  its  joys 
and  its  sorrows — its  loves  and  its  hates — its  expectations 
and  disappointments — its  fierce  struggles  for  existence, 
this  apparently  is,  to  mankind  in  general,  but  a  little 
more  than  a  common  day — a  day  not  differing  greatly 
from  others,  but  in  this  instance,  it  is  the  day  that  sepa- 
rates or  splits  the  month  into  halves.  Is  it  this  only 
that  gives  significance  to  me?  No,  this  is  St.  V^alen- 
tine's  Day — the  day  when  the  birds  are  supposed  to 
choose  their  mates,  though  not  to  any  great  extent  in 
this  climate,  yet  a  pair  of  cardinals  are  getting  their  daily 
food  in  my  back  yard.  I  recall  too,  that  it  is  the  day  when 
boys  and  girls  are  exchanging  love  ditties  and  comic 
pictures,  w^hen  they  make  life  merry  with  their  laughter 
and  song,  and  add  weariness  and  vexations  to  Post 
Office  clerks  and  the  mail  carriers;  but  to  me,  and  for 


anot  licr  roason,  this  day  stands  out  in  special  prominence 
as  ail  anniversary  in  my  business  life.  Forty-eight 
years  ago  I  began  my  career  as  Special  Agent  and  in 
this  connection  I  have  had  pleasure  and  prosperity, 
longer  than  the  average  age  of  man. 

Then  again  I  call  to  mind  that  on  the  first  day  of  this 
month,  at  Columbus,  I  promised  the  members  of  our  two 
Field  Clubs,  that  should  the  time,  the  opportunity  and 
the  inclination  come  to  me  hand  in  hand,  like  minister- 
ing angels,  I  would  undertake,  at  some  future  time,  to 
give  my  insurance  friends  a  brief  history  of  some  of  the 
happenings  and  experiences — some  of  my  personal 
recollections,  of  the  events  that  have  occured  during 
this  long  business  career,  and  with  such  reflections  and 
meditations,  I  take  up  my  not  unpleasant  task. 

Having  been  complimented  with  the  unanimous  vote 
of  both  the  Field  Club,  and  the  Bureau  Club,  in  their 
selection  of  me,  as  their  Insurance  Historian,  I  feel  that 
I  am  relieved  of  the  necessity  of  making  apologies  for 
what  I  undertake  to  do ;  but  should  I  use  the  personal 
pronoun  with  undue  frequency,  it  will  be  through 
necessity,  rather  than  choice. 

Commonly  speaking,  makers  of  history  have  neither 
the  time,  nor  the  inclination  to  write  it,  while  on  the 
other  hand  the  writers  of  history  commonly  have  little  to 
do  in  the  making  of  it.  My  personal  ambition  would 
be,  to  be  a  maker,  rather  than  a  writer  of  history,  but 
under  existing  conditions  and  circumstances,  I  am  con- 
fronted with  the  proposition  to  fill  both  positions,  and 
my  failure  or  success  will  have  to  be  determined  by  my 
readers. 

The  inquiry,  which  has  been  anticipated,  will  natur- 
ally, and  somewhere  arise,  why  I  should  write  a  brief 
sketch  of  my  life,  and,  in  response  may  I  be  permitt- 


ed  to  ask  "Why  not?"  So  long  as  I  shall  not  exact  any 
promises  from  my  friends  to  read  what  I  write  nor 
regard  their  neglect  to  do  so  as  a  personal  affront,  why 
not  grant  me  unrestricted  freedom  in  my  task?  If  I  can 
place  on  my  sacrificial  altar  a  little  sweet  incense — the 
ascending  smoke  of  which  will  be  pleasing  to  me,  why 
should  I  not  gratify  my  sense  of  smell  with  its  fragrant 
perfume? 

Having  been  asked  to  write  a  history  of  Fire  Insur- 
ance in  Ohio,  and  having  been  actively  engaged  in  it  for 
so  many  years  as  State  and  Special  Agent,  it  seems  to  me 
that  a  sketch  of  my  life  so  intimately  interwoven  with 
the  history  of  the  fire  insurance  business  should  furnish 
a  reasonable  excuse  for  what  I  have  undertaken,  and 
mix  with  it  an  account  of  my  life  without  egotism  on 
my  part. 

Would  not  this  world  in  which  we  live  be  much  better 
and  our  lives  much  happier,  if  we  would  pluck  up  the 
thistles  along  the  path-way  of  life — clear  the  earth  for 
more  sunshine,  and  cultivate  flowers  to  be  placed  on  the 
tables  of  our  living,  rather  than  on  the  caskets  of  our 
dead? 

Somewhere,  and  in  some  well  authenticated  history, 
it  is  duly  recorded  that  the  renowned  Walter  Van  Twil- 
ler,  the  first  Dutch  Governor  of  New  Amsterdam  (now 
New  York)  had  a  striking  personality,  that  standing  in 
his  wooden  shoes,  he  measured  five  feet  and  six  inches  in 
height  and  six  feet  and  five  inches  in  girth,  that  his  brain 
was  so  ponderous  and  his  deliberations  so  stupendous 
that  they  could  only  be  stimulated  into  activity,  by  vig- 
orously smoking  his  huge  Dutch  pipe  and  his  favorite 
Virginia  tobacco. 

In  imitation  of  this  illustrious  official,  I  will  now  light 
my  briar  pipe  and  proceed  to  the  task  assigned  me.    Like 


Job,  I  can  say  "Oh,  that  my  words  were  written,  Oh, 
that  they  were  printed  in  a  book." 

Looking  Backward 

Contrary  to  the  usual  order  of  business  procedure, 
a  successful  Salvage  Corps  was  in  active  operation 
and  on  an  extensive  scale,  long  before  Fire  Insurance 
entered  into  the  dreams  of  men.  Noah,  at  his  own 
expense,  and  solely  for  Salvage  Purposes,  built  a  great 
ark  or  ship,  (on  which  he  carried  no  Marine  Insurance) 
into  which  he  gathered  animals,  birds  and  living  creat- 
ures of  every  kind,  in  pairs,  to  save  them  from  the 
great  world  flood. 

The  common  impression  that  Insurance  is  a  modern 
institution  or  of  modern  origin,  is  erroneous.  It  can  be 
traced  in  some  form  or  other  back  to  ancient  Egyptian 
civilization.  The  earliest  authentic  account  we  have  on 
this  subject,  states  that  during  the  reign  of  one  of  the 
Pharaohs,  a  young  Hebrew  by  the  name  of  Joseph, 
formerly  a  slave,  promoted,  organized  and  conducted  a 
National  Famine  Insurance  Company  under  government 
control. 

Its  name  was  probably  an  Egyptian  term,  equivalent 
to  our  word  "Agricultural,"  as  the  original  capital  stock 
was  composed  entirely  of  the  products  of  the  cultivated 
fields.  Seven  years  were  required  to  collect,  get  together 
and  store  away  the  assets  and  during  the  next  succeeding 
seven  years,  these  were  disposed  of,  in  exchange  for 
money,  jewels,  lands  and  live  stock,  and  by  gratuitous 
distribution  among  the  people. 

The  affairs  of  this  Company  were  wound  up  with 
honor  and  credit  to  the  administration  of  its  promoter 
and  manager,  and  gave  him  an  imperishable  name  in 


history.  It  would  be  a  pleasant  and  most  profitable 
task  to  trace  the  zigzag  and  dotted  lines  of  insurance  his- 
tory, during  the  next  three  thousand  years,  but  as  the 
American  business  man  is  commonly  impatient  with  un- 
important details,  we  will  make  our  parting  courtesy 
to  the  Pyramids  and  the  Sphynx,  and  move  on  with  our 
literary  luggage,  and  drop  off  at  old  London,  on  our  way 
to  our  own  country. 

In  the  palmy  days  of  the  Roman  Empire,  insurance 
occupied  an  important  place  in  the  commercial  affairs 
of  that  people.  Later  on,  in  some  of  the  Central  Coun- 
tries of  Europe,  taxes  were  levied,  either  by  the  state 
or  by  municipalities  on  property  owners,  for  the  purpose 
of  indemnifying  them  against  loss  by  fire  and  other  acci- 
dents. 

Journeying  along  the  foot  hills  of  some  mountain 
range,  we  come  across  scenery  deserving  our  enthusias- 
tic admiration — scenery  of  wonderfully  diversified  char- 
acter and  beauty,  but  it  is  the  high  and  rugged  moun- 
tain peaks,  capped  with  eternal  ice  and  snow  that  excite 
our  wonder  and  reverence.  These  will  be  photographed 
on  memory  in  vivid  pictures  to  last  long  after  the  scenery 
of  the  foot  hills  is  forgotten.  So,  it  is  with  history — the 
important  events,  the  mountain  peaks  will  be  remem- 
bered and  treasured,  long  after  the  minor  things  have 
faded  from  memory. 

Here  in  London,  centrally  located  and  popular,  was 
Lloyd's  Coffee  House,  where  the  city  bankers,  money 
lenders,  speculators,  and  men  of  commercial  pursuits, 
were  accustomed  to  meet — eat  their  roast  beef  and  mut- 
ton, sip  their  ale,  smoke  their  pipes  and  discuss  business. 

Somewhere  about  the  rooms  would  be  posted  "Pro- 
posals for  Insurance",  stating  the  name  of  the  vessel, 
the  name  of  the  Captain,  the  character  of  the  cargo,  the 


ports  of  departure  and  destination.  Under  these  would 
be  written  the  names  of  the  subscribers,  with  the 
amount  of  the  risk  each  assumed,  which  was  based 
upon  a  fixed  rate  or  premium,  and  this  early  custom  was 
called  "Underwriting,"  which  name  has  since  attached 
to  our  business. 

No  modern  policies  and  no  modern  policy  contracts 
were  issued.  One  copy  of  the  Proposal  containing  the 
signatures  of  the  Underwriters  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  party  representing  the  insurers,  and  another  copy 
with  the  assured.  Should  the  vessel  and  cargo  thus 
insured,  or  underwritten,  be  lost  or  damaged,  there 
might  be  four,  or  even  five  months  elapse  before  the  news 
of  the  disaster  would  reach  the  London  Office.  With 
the  growth  of  the  Marine  Commerce  between  the  United 
States  and  the  mother  country,  and  with  the  increase 
of  our  exports,  this  individual  underwriting  was  taken 
up  to  some  extent  in  our  own  seaport  cities. 

We  cannot  measure  the  traveled  roads  between  the 
early  colonies  and  our  present  civilization  without  some 
starting  point.  That  our  country  has  made  progress 
beyond  the  dreams  of  the  most  sanguine,  that  its 
achievements  are  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  world 
is  commonly  admitted. 

That  the  insurance  business  has  kept  step  in  this 
onward  march  of  progress — that  it  has  kept  abreast 
with  the  animating  and  controlling  spirit  of  our  American 
people,  must  be  conceded.  •  The  incidents  heretofore 
mentioned  in  this  sketch  have  not  been  introduced  so 
much  as  matters  of  history,  as  to  show  by  comparison 
and  contrast  the  advancements  made  by  the  Insurance 
Companies  in  the  marvellous  development  of  our 
country. 


Early  History 

Our  American  exporters  continued  to  patronize  to 
some  extent  the  English  Individual  Underwriters,  but 
gradually  a  considerable  portion  of  this  business  passed 
to  the  control  of  our  own  citizens.  Efforts  were  made, 
and  without  much  success  to  interest  William  Penn  in 
the  Insurance  Business,  but  he  expressed  his  apprehen- 
sions as  to  the  "stability  and  desirability  of  a  business 
that  did  not  have  the  sanction  of  heaven." 

In  writing  to  a  business  friend  he  says:  "I  shall  be 
glad  if  this  dull  sailor  (Cantico)  gets  as  safely  as  the 
Hopewell.  I  am  tender  as  to  insurance  and  did  nothing 
in  it  for  the  Hopewell." 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  not  only  interested  in  the 
general  subject  of  insurance,  but  he  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  establishing  the  first  Company  on  our  con- 
tinent, known  as  "The  Philadelphia  Contributionship 
for  the  Insurance  of  Houses  for  Loss  by  Fire."  He  was 
also  instrumental  in  promoting  the  general  insurance 
interests  in  their  infantile  days. 

Mr.  Joseph  Saunders,  an  eminent  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia, as  well  as  a  prominent  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  began  issuing  policies  personally  in  1758,  all  of 
which  he  prefaced  with  the  invocation  "In  the  name  of 
God — Amen."  Mr.  Saunders  was  both  a  local  Under- 
writer and  a  pious  Quaker.  When  changing  the  location 
of  his  office,  he  made  the  announcement  as  follows: 

"Notice  is  hereby  given,  That  the  Infurance  Office  for 
shipping  and  Houfes,  is  kept  by  Joseph  Saunders  at  this 
Houfe,  where  Ifrael  Pemberton,  fen.,  lately  lived,  near 
the  Queen's  Head  in  Waterftreet." 

He  evidently  assumed  that  the  business  had  divine 
sanction. 


The  spirit  of  adventure  then  lured  men  as  it  does  to- 
day, out  and  into  the  unchartered  seas  of  finance,  to 
assume  risks  and  engage  in  untried  projects  in  the  hope 
of  acquiring  fortunes,  as  the  following  announcement 
would    indicate. 

"N.  B.  Rcily,  of  this  city,  Conveyancer,  will  infure 
Tickets  in  this  Lottery  at  a  very  low  Premium." 

Among  the  various  commercial  interests  of  the  city, 
the  insurance  business  had  attained  to  one  of  such  prom- 
inence, as  to  attract  the  attention  of  a  prominent  New 
York  Broker,  Mr.  Anthony  Van  Dam,  who  opened  an 
office  in  the  city  of  "Brotherly  Love,"  in  September, 
1759,  and  announced  the  fact  through  the  newspapers 
as  follows: 

"The  New  York  Infurance  office  is  opened  at  the 
Houfe  of  the  Widow  Smith,  adjoining  the  Merchant's 
Coffee  Houfe;  where  all  Rifks  are  underwrote  at  moder- 
ate premiums.  Constant  Attendance  will  be  given  from 
the  Hours  of  Eleven  to  One  in  the  Forenoon,  and  from 
Six  to  Eight  in  the  Evening,  by  Anthony  Van  Dam,  clerk 
of  the  office." 

In  1757,  six  merchants  of  Philadelphia  entered  into 
Articles  of  Agreement — the  name  and  style  of  which  was 
"Thos.  Willing  &  Co."  for  the  purpose  of  underwriting 
Marine  Policies,  which  seems  to  be  the  first  attempt  at 
an  organization  for  this  purpose  Each  of  these  parties 
owned  1-6  interest  in  the  Company. 

Shippers  procured  their  insurance  from  these  individ- 
ual Underwriters  through  brokers,  at  whose  Office  the 
risks  were  offered — the  terms  arranged  and  the  policies 
secured  for  their  clients,  and  without  any  direct  or 
stipulated  remuneration.  In  due  time  these  brokers 
claimed  an  additional  compensation  for  their  labor 
over  and  above  what  they  had  received  for  their  services 
in  the  adjustment  of  losses,  and  this  was  the  beginning 


of  the  payment  of  Commissions  to  Agents.     The  follow- 
ing is  the  agreement  which  they  entered  into : 

"That  the  several  brokers  in  whose  affairs  they  shall 
hereafter  subscribe  Policies  shall  be  accountable  for  all 
the  premiums  arising  from  such  subscriptions  having  all 
allowed  thereon  by  us  the  underwriters,  a  commission  of 
one  and  a  quarter  per  cent,  for  standing  the  Risques  of 
such  premiums,  collecting  and  paying  the  same  to  the 
following   manner: 

That  such  brokers  shall  settle  each  Underwriter's 
Account  every  three  months,  and  pay  the  balance  due 
thereon  exclusive  of  all  premiums  arising  from  policies 
which  have  not  been  subscribed  above  one  month,  and  in 
the  Intermediate  time  between  such  settlements  shall 
pay  all  losses  due  from  us  out  of  the  Premiums  of  Policys 
which  have  been  underwrote  more  than  one  month,  or  so 
far  as  such  subscriptions  extend." 

As  the  number  of  individual  Underwriters  and  Brokers 
increased  competition  between  them  grew  up,  which 
very  seriously  affected  the  rates  and  in  1766,  a  meeting 
of  19  of  the  Underwriters  was  held  who  then  and  there 
signed  an  agreement  as  follows: 

'The  subscribers  hereunto  being  convinced  by  said 
Experience  that  the  premiums  of  Insurance  have  of  late 
been  inadequate  to  the  Risques  underwrote  in  this  City, 
and  fearing  that  the  Consequence  of  their  continuing  will 
be  an  entire  loss  of  so  necessary  and  useful  a  branch  of 
business,  as  most  of  the  present  Underwriters  are  deter- 
mined to  decline  the  pursuit  of  it  unless  some  regulations 
of  the  premiums  are  made  and  generally  agreed  to  it : 

Wherefore  we  and  each  of  us  promise  to  and  agree  with 
each  other : 

"That  we  will  not  subscribe  our  names  to  any  Policy 
or  Policies  of  Assurance  at  any  less  premium  or  Rates 
than  are  specified  in  the  List  annexed  hereunto,  signed 
by  the  Brokers." 

"That  any  person  now  in  the  practice  of  Underwriting 
in  this  city  do  refuse  to  sign  and  agree  to  these  articles.we 
will  not  subscribe  any  Policy  of  Assurance  to  cover 
any  Ship,  Freight  or  Goods,  the  Property  of  such  refusing 
Underwriters,  nor  any  other  Policy  which  the  said  Refus- 
ing Underwriters  have  signed." 


"We  will  subscribe  no  Policy  but  what  comes  from 
an  Office  Keeper." 

The  hours  for  transacting  business  at  such  offices  were 
commonly  observed  by  the  Companies  under  the  follow- 
ing rule. 

"That  the  Office  shall  be  open  for  the  Transaction  of 
Business  from  Nine  O'clock  in  the  morning  to  Two  in  the 
afternoon,  and  from  Four  in  the  afternoon,  till  Eight  in 
the  evening.  That  the  attendance  of  the  Secretary  be 
required  from  Ten  to  Two,  and  from  Four  to  Eight  in  the 
afternoon.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President 
to  attend  to  this  office  every  day  from  Eleven  O'clock  in 
the  forenoon  until  Two  O'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  from 
Five  O'clock  in  the  afternoon,  until  Eight  O'clock.  And 
that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Committee  of  the  week  to 
attend  every  day  from  Twelve  O'clock  until  Two  in  the 
afternoon,  and  from  Six  till  Eight  O'clock." 

Insurance  on  Frame  Structures  received  the  attention 

in  the  following  record : 

"That  the  Insurance  on  Wooden  Buildings  shall  not  be 
considered  to  be  precluded  by  any  article  in  our  principal 
proposals,  but  that  when  two  or  more  wooden  buildings 
adjoin,  a  larger  premium  shall  be  required  than  is 
demanded  on  a  single  wooden  building." 

Some  of  the  conditions  and  stipulations  of  the  early 

Life  Insurance  Policies  might  require  the  attention  of  an 

expert  interpreter  in  the  event  of  a  loss.     In  1794,  one 

of   the    Companies    insured    Captain    John    Collett — 

"On  his  person  against  Algerines  and  other  Barbary 
Corsairs  in  a  voyage  from  Philadelphia  to  London,  in 
the  ship  George  Barclay  himself  Master,  Valuing  himself 
at  $5,000,  the  premium  on  which  was  two  per  cent." 

Another  contained  the  following  stipulation  or  condit- 
ion: 

"The  said  President  and  Directors,  therefore  and  in 
consideration  of  Ten  Per  Cent,  to  them  paid,  do  assure, 
assume  and  promise  that  he,  the  said  Bon  Albert  Briois 
de  Beaumez  shall,  by  permission  of  Almighty  God,  live 
and  continue  in  this  natural  life  for  and  during  the  said 
Term  and  space  of  Eighteen  Calendar  months." 


10 


Brokers 

In  some  respects  Brokers  are  not  unlike  our  poor;  they 
have  long  been  with  us  and  judging  from  present  appear- 
ances they  will  continue  to  occupy  front  seats  on  the 
stage.  Their  attitude  and  their  relation  to  the  local 
agent  depend  largely  upon  their  view  point  as  to  remun- 
eration for  services  rendered.  When  enjoying  the 
sweets  that  come  to  us  from  the  honey  bee,  we  are  read}' 
to  attribute  wisdom  and  sing  praises  to  the  buzzing, 
industrious  little  insect,  but  when  it  plants  its  tiny  pois- 
onous sting  in  our  epidermis  our  view  point  radically 
changes;  that  is  when  the  broker  gets  the  honey  and  the 
local  agent  nurses  the  sting.  But  this  does  not  alter  the 
fact  that  the  legitimate  broker  has  his  place  in  the  busi- 
ness and  cannot  successfully  and  will  not  intentionally 
be  ignored  by  the  better  class  of  local  agents. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  the  fire  insurance  busi- 
ness in  the  United  States  was  almost  wholly  done  by  in- 
individuals  or  brokers.  These  brokers  became  in  due 
time  quite  numerous  and  aggressive,  and  the  compe- 
tition between  them  sharp  and  unscrupulous.  In  several 
instances  they  associated  themselves  together  under 
articles  of  partnership,  which  was  a  step  in  the  direction 
and  probably  led  up  to  the  organization  of  fire  insurance 
companies  operating  under  state  charters. 

The  Quaker,  William  Penn,  though  often  and  urgent- 
ly solicited  to  engage  in  and  use  his  influence  towards 
promoting  this  venturesome  business,  maintained  his 
scruples  that  little  or  no  dependence  could  be  placed  on 
any  enterprise  that  did  not  have  the  sanction  of  Heaven. 

From  the  minds  of  certain  people  who  beleive  in  an 
over-ruling  Providence  and  that  all  the  happenings  in 


11 


our  lives  were  predestined  from  the  beginning,  this  ob- 
jection to  insurance  has  not,  even  in  our  day,  been 
wholly  removed. 

Alarmed  with  existing  conditions  and  threatened  as 
they  were  with  financial  loss,  a  number,  nineteen  in  all, 
of  these  individual  underwriters  or  brokers  came  together 
and  with  the  view  of  correcting  the  prevailing  evils, 
organized  a  local  association.  History  in  this  instance 
has  often  repeated  itself.  Even  at  that  time  a  few 
members  of  the  profession  assumed  for  themselves  all 
the  practical  honesty  and  virtue  there  was  in  the  busi- 
ness— held  aloof  for  the  Pharisaical  reason  that  they 
could  not  trust  certain  of  the  signers  to  keep  or  observe 
any  agreement,  and  thereby  prevented  the  loyal  nine- 
teen from  accomplishing  successfully  what  they  had 
hopefully  planned  for. 

Oldest  Stock  Company 

That  the  Insurance  Company  of  North  America  was 
organized  in  1792 — that  the  meetings  for  this  purpose 
were  held  in  Old  Independence  Hall,  and  in  the  room  in 
which  that  immortal  document,  "The  Declaration  of 
Independence"  was  signed,  and  that  it  is  the  oldest 
stock  company  in  the  United  States,  are  facts  so  com- 
monly known,  that  they  are  not  mentioned  here  for 
advertising  purposes,  but  there  are  some  matters  con- 
nected with  its  early  history,  which  are  of  general  as 
well  as  of  common  interest. 

The  original  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  $600, 
000.  The  opposition  to  this  enterprise  was  so  strong 
and  so  well  organized  that  the  charter  was  not  granted 
by  the  State  until  1794.  The  individual  Underwriters 
and  Brokers  contended,  and  with  some  success,  that  a 


12 


company  with  such  a  large  capital  would  secure  most,  if 
not  all  of  the  risks,  would  eventually  drive  them  out  of 
their  established  business  and  in  a  short  time  would 
become  a  monopoly,  and  would  thereby  become  burden- 
some to  their  citizens.  A  few  intelligent  business  men 
who  were  members  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  in 
1794  had  the  vision  to  see  that  these  arguments  were 
selfish  as  well  as  fallacious. 

The  first  Secretary  of  this  company,  Mr.  Eben  Haz- 
ard, had  been  Postmaster  General  under  George  Wash- 
ington. He  was  a  fine  scholar,  had  attained  considerable 
notoriety  as  a  writer  and  was  a  man  of  rare  executive 
ability.  A  letter  written  by  him  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  not  only  throws  a  side  light  upon  the 
general  conditions  in  those  days,  but  will,  by  contrast 
with  our  present  Postal  service,  show  the  wonderful 
growth  and  progress  our  country  has  made  during  the 
past  131  years.     The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter: 


September  21,  1789 


"To  His  Excellency,  George  Washington, 
President  of  the  U.  S. 
Dear  Sir: — 


Though  I  have  made  repeated  applications  for  more 
assistance,  and  so  clearly  pointed  out  the  necessity  there 
was  for  it,  that  a  Committee  of  Congress  reported  in  favor 
of  its  being  allowed,  I  have  been  left  to  encounter  the  whole 
business  of  the  Department  almost  alone.  Besides  the 
general  superintendence  of  fifteen  hundred  miles,  exclusive 
of  postroads,  I  have  had  to  maintain  a  very  burdensome 
correspondence ;  to  examine  the  quarterly  returns  from  all 
the  eastern  offices;  to  enter  all  the  accounts;  to  keep  the 
books  of  the  Department  which  since  my  appointment  has 
been  in  double  entry;  to  make  communications  to  Con- 
gress and  Committees,  which  have  frequently  required 
lengthy  and  tedious  calculations ;  to  form  and  enter  into 
contracts  and  pay  the  contractors  quarterly;  to  inspect  the 
dead  letters,  and  to  do  the  business  out  of  doors,  as  well  as 


13 


within.  My  own  attention  has  been  so  frequently  necessary 
thai  I  have  not  had  time  for  proper  relaxation,  and  in  three 
years  past  have  not  been  to  the  distance  of  ten  miles  from 
this  city.  I  once  hired  a  clerk,  but  found  my  salary  was  not 
equal  to  that  expense  in  addition  to  the  support  of  my  family 
and  was  obliged  to  dismiss  him.'' 

Whether  this  unusual  request  was  granted  might  be 
ascertained  by  examining  the  Congressional  Record,  but 
the  fact  that  there  are  now  2000  or  more  employees  con- 
nected with  the  Department  at  Washington — that  in 
addition  to  this  there  are  general  distributing  offices  in 
all  of  our  large  cities,  and  with  the  50,000  men  who  are 
employed  in  the  Railway  Mail  Service  alone,  would 
indicate  that  the  employment  of  clerks  had  been  very 
materially  extended  since  Mr.  Hazard's  administration 
of  his  office  Letter  postage  at  that  time  for  a  distance 
of  300  miles  or  more  was  25  cents  and  10  cents  for  a  less 
distance. 

To  assist  Mr.  Hazard  in  his  duties  as  Secretary,  the 
Directors  of  the  Company  appointed  a  Porter  and  gen- 
eral helper  at  a  salary  of  six  pounds  per  month,  and  a 
hint  of  a  "Douceur"  at  Christmas. 

In  1797  and  1798,  fatal  epidemics  of  Yellow  Fever 
practically  closed  all  of  the  business  houses  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  city,  and  the  office  of  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  North  America  was  removed  to  Germantown, 
as  implied  by  the  following  notice  published  in  one  of 
their  city  papers. 

"The  office  of  the  Infurance  Company  of  North  Amer- 
ica is  removed  to  the  School-houfe  near  the  Market,  in 
Germantown.  Orders  for  infurance  left  at  the  South 
East  corner  of  Arch  and  Sixth  ftreets  will  be  duly  for- 
warded." 

With  the  view  of  providing  indemnity  from  "losses  by 
fire  on  land"  a  number  of  Philadelphia  citizens  or  "Con- 
tributors" as  they  were  called,  organized  in  April  1792 


14 


under  a  deed  of  settlement  a  company  known  as  the 
Philadelphia  Contributionship  for  the  Insurance  of 
Houses  from  Loss  by  Fire,  and  it  was  not  until  the  fol- 
lowing June  that  a  member  of  this  Association,  the  Hon. 
John  Smith,  secured  the  first  policy,  which  would  indi- 
cate that  fire  insurance  covering  properties  on  land  had 
not  up  to  that  time  been  in  great  demand.  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  actively  identified  with  this  Philadelphia 
Contributionship,  and  gave  to  it  his  name  and  personal 
influence. 

Green  Tree  Insurance  Company 

On  each  side  of  a  residence  street  in  the  city  of 
"Brotherly  Love"  were  in  those  days  rows  of  shade 
trees.  For  some  reasons,  possibly  from  modesty,  these 
trees  refused  during  the  fall  of  the  year  to  do  the  bidding 
of  Jack  Frost  to  shed  their  leaves  and  expose  their  naked 
limbs  to  a  gaping  public.  A  fire  in  one  of  these  dwel- 
lings was  carried  by  means  of  the  dead  leaves  to  another 
building,  which  led  to  a  By-Law  being  passed  by  the 
Company,  The  Philadelphia  Contributionship,  forbid- 
ding shade  trees  of  any  kind  or  description,  either  in 
front  or  near  any  building  the  Company  had  insured. 
A  number  of  the  patrons  of  this  Company  desiring  to 
have  shade  trees,  petitioned  the  Company  for  a  repeal 
of  the  rule  but  without  success.  These  persons  even 
offered  to  pay  an  extra  premium  for  the  privilege  of 
planting  or  having  shade  trees  on  their  lots.  On  the 
14th  day  of  November,  1795,  Bishop  White  of  that  city 
obtained  a  privilege  to  plant  trees  under  this  endorse- 
ment— "His  Deposite  for  Planting  two  Trees  in  front 
of  the  within  described  house  and  paid  to  the  Treasurer 
one  pound  five  shillings." 


15 


A  special  meeting  of  the  patrons  of  this  Company  was 
called  and  the  following  petition  and  protest  were  duly 
presented:  "A  great  number  of  the  citizens  of  Philadel- 
phia who  are  proprietors  of  houses  in  the  city  and  its 
suburbs,  many  of  whom  now  are  or  have  been  Members 
of  the  Philadelphia  Contributionship  for  insuring  Houses 
from  Loss  by  Fire,  have  found  it  convenient  and  agree- 
able to  them  to  have  trees  planted  in  the  street  before 
their  houses,  which  the  said  Contributionship  have 
thought  proper  to  prohibit  by  one  of  their  By-Laws, 
although  the  same  is  expressly  permitted  by  a  law  of 
the  State  and,  notwithstanding,  application  has  been 
made  by  above  forty  of  their  Members  to  have  the  said 
By-Laws  repealed  who  signified  their  willingness  that  an 
addition  should  be  made  to  the  premium  for  their 
insurance  for  the  supposed  risque  attending  trees  in 
cases  of  fire,  as  is  now  done  with  respect  to  bake  houses, 
coopers,  apothecaries,  and  oil  men's  shops,  stores  con- 
taining pitch,  tar,  brimstone,  etc.,  which  application 
has  been  rejected." 

"That  having  no  intention  to  prejudice  the  institu- 
tion already  established  and  being  only  actuated  by  a 
desire  to  secure  their  own  property,  they  further  agreed 
that  if  the  By-Law  above  referred  to  shall  be  repealed 
within  ten  months  from  the  date  of  their  agreement, 
which  was  the  5th  of  July,  1784,  and  that  then  their  said 
agreement  should  be  void  or  otherwise  to  be  carried  into 
execution." 

The  time  given  the  Company  for  repealing  this  By- 
Law  having  expired  and  with  no  action  being  taken, 
these  parties  organized  what  w^as  and  still  is  known  as 
the  "Green  Tree  Insurance  Company",  which  provided 
no  restrictions  to  its  patrons  for  the  planting  of  either 
shade  or  fruit  trees  on  or  in  front  of  their  premises. 

16 


First  Special  Agents 

Travel  between  our  seaport  cities  and  what  was  then 
the  great  Middle  West  was  tedious,  expensive  and 
attended  with  many  discomforts.  The  only  public 
conveyances  were  canal  boats  and  stage  coaches.  Trips 
for  pleasure  and  sight-seeing  were  rarely  made.  When 
matters  came  up  requiring  Company  consideration 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  they  were  usually  referred  to 
some  Company  official  with  instructions  to  visit  the 
point  and  report  his  conclusions  and  such  action  as  he 
had  taken. 

As  the  cities  and  towns  in  the  west  increased  in  their 
populations,  business  expanded  and  the  demand  for  insur- 
ance increased,  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  it 
impractical  for  the  officers  at  the  home  of  any  of  the 
Companies  to  longer  give  their  personal  attention  to 
their  western  agencies.  To  meet  this  new  condition  of 
things.  Special  Agents  were  employed  to  devote  either  a 
part  or  all  of  their  time  to  establishing  new  agencies, 
cultivating  their  respective  fields  and  soliciting  business. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  our  present  Special  Agency 
System.  These  appointments,  increasing  in  number  as 
they  did,  the  competition  and  rivalry  among  them, 
much  to  their  discredit,  became  so  fierce  and  unscrup- 
ulous that  the  Companies  called  a  halt  on  their  methods 
and  directed  them  to  enter  into  some  agreement  among 
themselves  and  adopt  practices  for  the  protection  of 
their  interests  and  their  good  reputations.  For  a  time 
at  least,  there  was  an  improvement  in  the  situation  but 
in  the  end  greed  once  more  got  in  its  work. 

Discovery  of  Steam  Power 

Little  did  James  Watt,  the  Scotchman,  when  watching 
his  steaming  tea-kettle,  or  even  while  making  his  trial 

17 


experiments,  dream  that  he  was  to  be  the  honored  and 
chosen  priest  to  sanctify  the  marital  bond  between  fire 
and  water  and  present  their  gigantic  child  to  the  world, 
destined  to  render  incalculable  service  to  humanity  and 
wholly  revolutionize  our  mechanical,  industrial  and 
commercial  affairs. 

The  stage  coach,  our  sailing  vessels  and  the  canal  boat 
for  travel,  with  all  their  inconveniences  and  discomforts, 
have  given  place  to  our  railroads  and  ocean  liners  with 
their  comfortable  and  sometimes  luxurious  equipments, 
enabling  one  to  cross  our  continent  from  the  east  to 
the  west  coast,  or  the  Atlantic,  in  as  many  days  as  in 
former  times  were  numbered  in  weeks  and  sometimes 
in  months. 

In  1832  the  route  of  travel  between  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  was  largely  by  canal  or  stage  coach.  The 
only  rail  line  then  in  use  was  the  beginning  of  the  present 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  and  the  track  consisted  of 
wooden  beams  (not  steel  rails)  resting  on  wooden  cross 
ties.  No  passengers  were  carried  on  these  trains.  In 
1836  the  locomotives  for  this  service  were  built  by  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  which  owned  and  operated  them 
under  a  fixed  charge  for  hauling  cars  or  trains. 

The  flotilla  of  ships  from  France  carrying  General 
Lafayette  and  his  soldiers  to  America  made  the  first 
voyage  in  72  days  and  the  second  in  80  days.  The  first 
steamship  to  make  an  across  the  ocean  voyage  was  the 
Savannah,  owned  by  a  Mr.  Scarborough,  a  resident  of 
Savannah,  Ga.,  and  that  first  trip  from  New  York  to 
Liverpool  required  18  days  to  make.  When  our  present 
ocean  liners  make  this  trip  in  less  than  six  days  it 
is  of  such  common  occurrence  as  to  excite  no  special 
comment.     If  the  ocean  could  yield  up  its  treasures  and 

18 


reveal  to  us  its  history  and  romances,  it  would  startle 
the  world  with  its  disclosures. 

The  white  Star  liner  Naronic  sailed  from  an  English 
port  and  was  never  afterward  heard  from.  Its  fate  has 
always  been  a  mystery  and  probably  will  always  be 
unknown.  Whether  it  was  shipwrecked,  sunk  or 
destroyed  by  fire  is  simply  a  matter  of  conjecture.  A 
more  singular  tragedy  was  the  case  of  the  Marie  Celeste 
that  was  discovered  drifting  aimlessly  in  mid-ocean — 
sails  hoisted  and  moving  along  majestically  before  the 
wind.  Being  hailed  from  another  ship  and  receiving 
no  response,  it  was  boarded,  when  not  a  sign  of  life  of 
any  kind  could  anywhere  be  found.  The  personal 
property  of  the  passengers  was  found  undisturbed  and 
even  a  partially  eaten  meal  was  still  on  the  tables.  What 
a  case  this  is  for  conjecture,  and  what  materials  it  might 
contribute  to  the  imagination  of  such  a  story  writer  as 
Jules  Verne. 

What  the  world  owes  to  James  Watt,  or  what  hu- 
manity owes  to  his  discovery  of  Steam  Power  is  beyond 
human  calculation.  It  will,  however,  be  worth  our 
while  to  thoughtfully  consider  how  vastly  steam  has 
added  to  our  national  wealth — how  vastly  it  has  in- 
creased the  business  of  insurance,  both  fire  and  marine, 
and  how,  on  the  other  hand,  our  insurance  companies 
have  fostered,  protected  and  nurtured  the  development 
of  this  important  discovery. 

First  Local  Agencies 

In  1807  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  one  of  the  Com- 
panies empowering  the  President  "to  appoint  suitable 
and  trusty  persons  at  such  places  as  he  shall  think  advis- 
able to  act  as  Surveyors  and  Agents  of  the  Company," 

19 


and  "to  instruct  each  agent  of  the  Company  as  to  the 
execution  of  his  trust  and  furnish  him  such  information 
as  he  may  think  proper." 

More  than  one  of  our  American  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
panies has  laid  claim  to  the  honor  and  distinction  of 
being  the  originator  of  our  present  American  Agency 
System,  but  the  official  records  in  the  office  of  the  Insur- 
ance Company  of  North  America  show  that  Mr.  Alexan- 
der Henry  was  duly  appointed  and  commisioned  agent 
of  this  Company  in  December,  1807,  at  Lexington,  Ky. 
and  in  1808,  other  agencies  of  this  Company  were  estab- 
lished in  a  few  cities  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  which,  it 
would  seem,  should  establish  the  priority  of  such  claim 
in  favor  of  this  Company.  To  the  Aetna,  the  Hart- 
ford and  the  Phoenix  of  Connecticut,  belong  the  credit 
for  a  rapid  expansion  of  the  Agency  System  throughout 
our  country. 

The  appointment  of  Mr.  Henry  was  soon  followed  by 
the  establishment  of  additional  agencies  at  Frankfort 
and  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  by  the  appointment  of  local 
Agents  at  Cincinnati,  Chillicothe,  Steubenville,  Ohio 
and  Wheeling,  Va.,  (West  Virginia  was  at  that  time  a 
part  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia),  and  it  would 
seem  fair  and  reasonable  to  assume  that  these  appoint- 
ments were  the  beginning  of  an  Agency  System  in  this 
country,  that  after  a  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
years,  remains  practically  unchanged. 

Underwriting 

We  inherit  the  words  "Underwriting  and  Underwri- 
ters" from  our  ancestors,  and  by  the  natural  law  of 
succession  we  retain  the  "name"  in  our  business  as  well 
as  in  our  profession,  making  both  of  which,  as  common- 


20 


ly  used,  apply  only  to  insurance  against  material  loss. 

To  my  mind,  however,  these  words  could  or  might  be 
made  to  assume  a  much  wider  or  broader  scope  than 
commonly  given  to  them  and  reach  out  to  cover  unusual 
as  well  as  common  cases  where  no  written  contracts  are 
involved.  When  we  find  some  poor  fellow  who  has  been 
overtaken  by  misfortune  and  we  come  to  his  relief — or 
find  some  person  who  is  discouraged  and  we  give  him 
cheer  and  encouragement — or  some  fellow  who  is  stuck 
in  the  mud,  down  and  out,  so  to  speak,  unable  to  move 
either  forward  or  backward  and  we  give  him  a  lift,  or 
when  we  do  something  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  uplift 
of  individuals  and  society  in  the  way  of  education,  moral 
improvement,  social  advancement,  assisting  the  needy, 
we  are  engaging  in  an  underwriting  project  wider  and 
broader  than  what  is  commonly  implied  in  the  use  we 
make  of  the  ordinary  term. 

In  building  and  maintaining  our  schools,  churches, 
libraries,  hospitals,  asylums,  etc.,  we  engage  in  the 
highest  type  of  underwriting,  by  fitting  our  young  men 
and  women  for  the  complex  duties  of  life — by  giving  an 
uplift  to  society  and  aiding  in  the  betterment  of  our 
American  citizenship. 

In  the  final  accounting  of  things  the  real  test  will  not 
be  so  much  what  has  been  our  devotion  to  creeds  and 
dogmas,  as  what  Underwriting  we  have  done  to  make 
the  world  better  and  mankind  happier. 

Western  Departments 

Its  geographical  location,  near  the  center  of  the  then 
great  Middle  West,  its  superior  advantages  in  river 
navigation  and  its  Railway  facilities,  combined  with  the 
progressive  public  spirit  and  enterprise  of  its  citizens, 

21 


made  Cincinnati  a  city  of  great  commercial  importance, 
and  as  such  attracted  the  attention  and  capital  of  Insur- 
ance Companies,  and  it  early  became  an  important 
insurance  center  for  Central  or  Western  Departments. 
Such  departments  were  organized  and  established  there 
by  the  following  named  Companies: 

Aetna  of         Connecticut 

American  of      Pennsylvania 

Commercial  Union        of  England 

Union  of  England 

Lancashire  of  England 

Liverpool  &  L  &  G        of  England 

Niagara  of  New  York 

Phoenix  of         Connecticut 

Royal  of  England 

In  addition  to  these  department  offices,  a  number  of 

local  Fire  Insurance  Companies  were  organized,  but  with 

two  exceptions,  have  either  failed,  gone  out  of  business, 

or  re-insured  in  other  companies. 

H.  M.  Magill 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Magill  was  General  Agent  of  the 
Phoenix  Insurance  Company  of  Connecticut.  Among 
insurance  men  he  held  a  position  as  leader,  but  seldom  as 
a  follower.  He  had  strong  prejudices  and  at  times  made 
but  little  effort  to  conceal  his  likes  and  dislikes.  He 
possessed  a  remarkable  memory  and  rarely  failed  to 
recognize  and  call  by  name  any  local  agent  that  he  had 
ever  met  or  transacted  business  personally  with.  He 
was  devoted  to  his  Company  and  his  loyalty  was  never 
a  subject  of  controversy. 

Even  among  those  of  his  insurance  friends  who  knew 
him  best,  his  point  of  view  was  often  not  sufficiently 


22 


broad  to  enable  him  to  see  much  that  was  good  in  the 
methods  of  his  competitors.  He  had  a  supreme  mastery 
over  details  and  he  carried  system  to  such  a  degree  that 
it  was  burdensome. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  sudden  death,  he  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Western  Union. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Bennett 

A  history  of  the  life  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Bennett  would  read 
more  like  a  romance  than  a  statement  of  human  inci- 
dents. He  was  born  in  England  in  the  year  1829,  came 
to  America  in  1833,  a  poor  boy,  and  when  a  mere  lad 
he  was  given  employment  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Ephraim 
Robbins,  an  Insurance  Agent  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
He  started  in  as  an  office  and  messenger  boy,  and  his 
duties  also  required  him  to  sweep  the  office.  His  alert- 
ness and  faithfulness  attracted  the  attention  of  his 
employer  who  promoted  him  to  a  general  solicitor  for 
the  Agency.  From  this  he  rose  steadily  and  rapidly, 
gaining  success  after  success. 

In  1852,  he  was  appointed  General  Agent  of  The  Aetna 
Insurance  Company  with  headquarters  at  Cincinnati, 
where  he  became  a  national  character  and  one  of  the 
foremost  insurance  men  of  the  country.  His  income 
was  a  princely  one  for  that  time,  and  he  spent  his  money 
freely,  if  not  lavishly.  The  premium  receipts  and  profits 
in  this  Central  Department  exceeded  those  of  the  home 
office  at  Hartford.  He  made  and  lost  two  fortunes. 
His  autocratic  attitude,  however,  towards  the  Com- 
pany's officials,  and  his  promotion  of  costly  schemes 
and  enterprises  without  consulting  with  or  having  con- 
sent of  the  Company  cost  him  his  position  as  General 
Agent. 


23 


He  was  ail  uiUiriiiK  worker,  had  rare  executive  abil- 
ities and  at  all  times,  kept  a  firm  grip  on  the  business, 
which  was  very  profitable  to  the  Company. 

During  his  administration,  the  premium  receipts  of 
this  Company  in  Ohio  through  its  Cincinnati  Depart- 
ment, were  in  excess  of  those  of  any  other  Company. 
After  severing  his  official  relations  with  the  Aetna,  he 
organized  the  Amazon,  the  Triumph  and  the  Andes 
Fire  Insurance  Companies,  and  with  very  flattering 
promises  of  continued  success,  but  the  great  conflagra- 
tions in  Chicago  in  1871  and  in  Boston  in  1872,  brought 
financial  disaster  to  them,  as  it  did  to  many  other 
companies,  having  longer  business  experiences. 

His  home  on  Clifton  Heights  was  called  The  Bennett 
Castle.  He  died  in  Indianapolis  in  the  year  1899,  a 
poor  man.  Over  his  brilliant  and  checkered  career, 
hovered  dark  shadow^s  of  domestic  tragedies  that  brought 
disappointment,  sorrow  and  a  premature  death  to  him. 

His  body  found  its  last  resting  place  in  the  cemetery 
at  Indianapolis  where  a  suitable  monument,  purchased 
with  the  contributions  of  insurance  men  throughout  the 
country,  stands  to  commemorate  his  name  and  memory. 

Royal  Insurance  Company 

The  Central  Department  of  the  Royal  Insurance 
Company  was  established  in  Cincinnati  in  1852,  with 
Dr.  John  S.  Law  as  its  Manager.  Sometime  thereafter 
his  son,  John  H.  Law,  became  associated  with  him 
under  the  firm  name  of  John  S.  Law  &  Son.  Later  on 
the  management  was  changed  to  John  H.  Law  &  Bros., 
then  to  John  H.  Law  &  Bro.  and  the  business  of  the 
Department  was  conducted  under  this  firm  name  until 
1894  when  the  offices  were  removed  to  Chicago  and 

24 


merged  with  those  of  the  Western  Department  under 
the  management  of  Law  Bros. — John  H.  and  George 
W.  Law.  Under  their  aggressive  management  the 
Company  took  a  position  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  Fire 
Insurance  Business  in  their  territory.  Mr.  John  H. 
Law  retired  from  active  participation  in  the  business 
after  60  years  of  service,  and  settled  on  his  plantation, 
Lac-Cal-Tallahassa,  Florida  where  he  died  in  April, 
1917. 

Liverpool  and  London  and  Globe 

The  Liverpool  and  London  and  Globe  Insurance 
Company  established  a  Central  Department  in  Cin- 
cinnati at  an  early  date,  with  a  Mr.  Knight  as  Manager. 
He  brought  into  the  business  his  English  training — his 
English  ideas  and  methods.  He  was  a  conservative 
underwriter  and  aimed  to  make  profit  rather  than 
secure  a  large  premium  income.  Policies  were  issued 
from  this  ofiice  and  upon  applications  that  required 
little  more  information  than  was  necessary  to  fill  out 
the  contracts.  Correspondence  with  Agents  was  re- 
duced to  the  mimimum.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
James  M.  DeCamp,  State  Agent  of  the  Company  for 
New  York.  He  re-organized  the  Department — intro- 
duced new  methods  and  made  its  representation  a 
valuable  asset  in  an  agency.  Mr,  DeCamp  died  in 
1905  and  the  Department  was  continued  for  sometime 
with  Mr.  Frank  Ritchie  as  Acting  Manager.  It  was 
then  moved  to  Chicago  and  merged  with  the  Western 
Department. 


25 


Aetna  Bible 

The  "Aetna  Guide— Fire  Insurance,"  by  Mr.  J.  B. 
Bennett,  General  Agent  at  Cincinnati  a  book  of  521 
pages,  was  gotten  out  and  copyrighted  in  1867  and  was 
published  in  the  same  year  by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.  of 
that  city,  and  was  commonly  called  the  "Aetna  Bible." 
It  contained  a  very  complete  history  of  the  Company, 
together  with  instructions  to  agents,  forms  for  policies 
and  endorsements,  lines  to  be  written,  and  rates  for  the 
various  classes  of  risks  and  its  marked  advance, in  insur- 
ance literature  was  commonly  conceded.  It  was 
regarded  among  insurance  people  as  authority  or  a 
standard  on  all  fire  insurance  questions.  Controver- 
sies between  agents  or  between  local  agents  and  field 
men,  and  even  among  field  men  themselves  were  com- 
monly settled  by  the  "Aetna  Bible." 

Only  a  limited  number  of  copies  of  this  book  have 
been  preserved  and  the  Agents  owning  these,  though 
containing  much  valuable  information,  rarely  consult 
them,  but  treasure  them  as  relics  of  an  early  period  in 
our  business. 

National  Board 

Fire  Insurance  conditions  in  the  United  States  have 
been  somewhat  analogous  to  the  economic  conditions 
that  existed  atone  time  in  ancient  Egypt.  There  have 
been  the  Seven  years  of  plenty  and  prosperity  follow^edby 
years  of  famine  and  want.  The  lean  and  unfavored 
kine,  have  with  remarkable  regularity,  come  up  out  of 
the  river  and  devoured  the  seven  fat  kine  that  were 
feeding  comfortably  and  in  apparent  security  on  the 
banks.  The  pendulum  has  always  swung  from  one  side 
to  the  other,  and  on  reaching  the  high  point  of  profit 

26 


and  success,  it  has  invariably  swung  back  to  the  other 
extreme  of  loss  and  demoralization. 

From  1860  to  1865  and  including  both  years,  the  fire 
insurance  business  in  our  country  had  reached  a  state  of 
demoralization  that  was  alarming.  Experiences  of  the 
past  years  were  disregarded — rates  were  not  observed, 
and  bad  practices  everywhere  prevailed.  In  fact  the 
ship  was  drifting  in  mid-ocean  without  a  rudder.  There 
were,  however  in  that  chaos  of  business,  a  few  brave  and 
far-seeing  managers  at  the  wheel  who  declined  to  have 
planted  on  their  cheeks  the  odious  kiss  of  the  traitor  and 
be  betrayed  by  treachery,  and  crucified  on  the  cross  of 
greed  and  disloyalty.  In  the  year  1866  the  representa- 
tives of  76  fire  insurance  companies  met  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  pursuant  to  a  call,  and  organized  the  National 
Board  of  Fire  Underwriters — an  organization  that  saved 
the  day  and  is  still  a  prominent  factor  in  shaping  the 
fire  insurance  business  of  this  country.  The  call  had 
been  issued  to  all  of  the  then  leading  companies  of  the 
country,  and  to  this  call  76  responded  favorably  and 
became  members  of  this  new  organization  which  was 
regarded  as  a  clear  indication  on  the  part  of  these  com- 
panies of  a  united  and  determined  purpose  to  stem 
the  downward  tendency  of  rates  and  bad  practices, 
and  place  the  business,  if  possible,  upon  a  paying  basis. 
Of  these  original  76  companies,  64  of  them  have  passed 
away,  leaving  only  12  of  the  original  members  at  the 
present  time  engaged  in  the  business.  As  a  further  com- 
mentary on  the  precariousness  of  the  business,  it  might 
be  added  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  fire  insurance 
companies  which  have  since  been  organized  and  started 
out  with  blaring  trumpets — with  alluring  prospects  and 
visions  of  large  dividends,  are  now  only  known  in  (often 
unsavory)  memory. 


27 


Thr  ohjiTts  and  |)iiri)oscs  of  this  organization  were — 
First :  Tf  >  establish  and  maintain,  as  far  as  practicable, 
a  system  of  uniform  rates  of  premium,  to  gather  such 
information  and  statistics  as  might  tend  to  that  result, 
and  to  promote  harmony  and  correct  bad  practices  in 
underwriting. 

Second:  To  organize  Local  Boards  of  Fire  Under- 
writers and  to  establish  and  maintain  a  uniform  rate  of 
eomixMisation  to  agents  and  brokers. 
Third:  To  repress  incendiarism  and  arson  by  com- 
bining in  suitable  measures  for  the  apprehension,  con- 
viction and  punishment  of  criminals  guilty  of  that  crime. 
Fourth:  To  devise  and  give  effect  to  measures  for 
the  protection  of  the  common  interests  and  the  promo- 
tion of  such  laws  and  regulations  as  will  secure  stability 
and  solidity  to  capital  employed  in  the  business  of  fire 
insurance,  and  protect  it  against  oppressive,  unjust  and 
discriminative  legislation. 

Up  and  until  the  year  1877  the  National  Board  made 
and,  among  its  own  members,  controlled  the  matter  of 
rates  and  premiums,  using  a  simplified  schedule  for  this 
purpose  and  this  movement  or  innovation  opened  the 
way  for  companies  operating  outside  the  Board  to  cut 
these  established  rates,  and  many  of  them  took  prompt 
and  aggressive  measures  and  dishonorable  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  to  increase  their  business.  The 
premium  receipts  of  the  National  Board  companies 
were  very  materially  reduced  through  such  dishonorable 
and  unscrupulous  competition.  The  following  named 
persons  served  as  Presidents  of  this  Board : 

1866—1870    James  M.  McLean 

1870—1876     Henry  A.  Oakley 

1876—1877     George  L.  Chase 

1877—1880     Alfred  G.  Baker 


28 


1880—1881  Martin  Bennett 

1881—1891  D.  A.  Heald 

1891—1894  D.  W.  C.  Skilton 

1894—1896  E.  A.  Walton 

1896—1897  Wm.  B.  Clark 

1897—1898  Henry  W.  Eaton 

1898—1900  E.  C.  Irvin 

1900—1902  George  P.  Sheldon 

1902—1903  Robert  B.  Beath 

1903—1904  Henry  M.  Hall 

1904—1906  John  H.  Washburn 

1906—1908  George  W.  Burchell 

1908—1910  S.  Montgomery  Hare 

1910—1911  A.  W.  Damon 

1911—1913  George  W.  Babb 

1913—1915  W.  N.  Kremer 

1915—1916  E.  G.  Richards 

1916—1918  R.  M.  Bissell 

This  organization  at  the  present  time  is  composed  of 
about  120  members,  who  represent  the  largest  and  best 
fire  insurance  companies  doing  business  in  America. 

During  the  years  1866  to  1869  inclusive,  the  National 
Board  made  an  effort  to  have  commissions  to  agents 
restricted  to  not  exceeding  10%  of  their  premium  re- 
ceipts but  failed  to  get  unanimous  approval  of  the  prop- 
osition. In  1872  this  subject  was  again  taken  up  for 
consideration  when  a  maximum  commission  of  15% 
was  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  in  May  1882  a  strict 
adhesion  to  the  15%  rule  was  made  a  condition  of 
membership.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  number 
having  a  surplus  of  elasticity  in  their  consciences  was 
so  large  that  the  membership  within  a  short  time  de- 
creased in  numbers  from  100  to  23  under  this  mandatory 
Commission  Agreement. 


29 


Thd[  iiit-n  of  reputed  character — of  a  high  order  of 
intelligence  and  supposed  to  possess  sufficient  abihties 
to  (OIK hid  the  affairs  of  great  corporations,  should 
become  restless  under  an  agreement  of  their  own  making 
— false  to  a  sacred  trust,  and  violate  a  pledge  that  had 
been  mutually  made,  is  not  a  flattering  comment  on 
tlu'ir  honesty  and  integrity. 

In  1888  the  15%  commission  rule  was  rescinded  and 
instructions  given  to  the  Officers  and  Executive  Com- 
mittee to  take  immediate  steps  to  increase  the  member- 
ship for  the  purpose  of  acting  on  all  matters  of  common 
interest  except  rates  and  commissions. 

The  Underwriters  Laboratories  of  Chicago,  which  has 
been  of  vast  benefit  to  the  general  public  and  the  under- 
writing interests  of  this  country,  is  an  incorporated 
company  of  which  the  capital  stock  is  held  by  members 
of  the  National  Board.  They  own  the  building  which 
they  occupy  and  test  and  pass  upon  all  kinds  of  devices 
for  motive  power— for  heating,  lighting,  building  mater- 
ials, appliances  for  extinguishing  fires,  means  for  fire 
prevention— in  fact  practically  on  all  the  methods, 
appliances  and  devices  pertaining  directly  to  the  fire 
insurance  business. 

The  National  Board  has,  during  its  history  accom- 
plished good  results  along  other  lines  and  espec- 
ially in  the  way  of  running  down  and  punishing  incen- 
diaries, and  this  has  been  accomplished  very  largely  by 
offers  of  liberal  rewards  for  their  apprehension  and  con- 
viction. 

Considerable  attention  was  also  given  to  the  forma- 
tion of  Local  Boards  and  in  a  report  made  to  the  Exec- 
utive Committee  by  Thomas  H.  Montgomery  in  Septem- 
ber 1872,  the  statement  was  made  that  over  50  Local 
Boards  had  been  organized  in  Ohio. 


30 


Reference  is  made  also  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  C.  E  Bliven, 
secretary  of  the  Ohio  State  Board,  giving  a  report  of 
District  Committee  work,  and  stating  that  a  State 
Board  had  been  organized  in  September. 

Ohio  Provisional  Committee 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
National  Board  in  Philadelphia,  December  10,  1875,  a 
special  committee  consisting  of  J.  B.  Hall,  F.  C.  Bennett 
and  C.  W.  Marshall  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
conferring  with  the  Local  Boards  already  organized,  and 
advise  as  to  their  specific  work  and  duties.  Mr.  F.  C. 
Bennett,  having  declined  to  serve  on  this  Committee, 
Mr.  H.  M.  Magill  was  appointed  in  his  place.  This 
arrangement  not  working  with  entire  satisfaction  for 
some  unknown  reasons,  a  committee  of  six  of  which  the 
President  of  the  State  Board  was  to  be  the  chairman 
was  subsequently  appointed  to  take  charge  of  insurance 
matters  in  the  States  of  Ohio  and  West  Virginia.  J.  .B 
Hall,  H.  M.  Magill,  F.  C.  Bennett,  C.  W.  Marshall, 
John  H.  Law  and  L.  J.  Bonar  being  named  as  members. 
This  committee  was  known  as  the  Ohio  Provisional 
Committee,  and  its  first  meeting,  held  in  Columbus 
was  organized  and  constituted  as  follows: 

L.  J.  Bonar,  Chairman 

J.  B.  Hall,  Secretary 

F.  C.  Bennett, 

J.  H.  Law, 

H.  M.  Magill, 

C.  W.  Marshall. 
After  a  service  continuing  through  a  couple  of  years 
with  monthly  meetings,  this  Committee  was  succeeded 
by  what  was  known  as: 


31 


"Local  Board  Commission  Number  1" 

which  Iiad  general  charRC  of  insurance  interests  in  Ohio, 
Indiana.  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
T.  M .(".()( )d  1( )(',  now  traveling  in  Ohio  as  a  Special  Agent 
was  Secretary  of  the  Commission  and  had  general  charge 
of  its  affairs. 

The  organization  of  Local  Boards  and  the  making  of 
rates  was  performed  by  special  committees  composed  of 
Field  nun,  and  in  fixing  the  tariffs  they  used  what  now 
would  seem  to  be  a  very  simple  schedule  indeed,  when 
compared  with  Mr.  Dean's  relative  values.  There  were 
but  few  charges  in  mercantile  rates  beyond  those  for 
exposures,  for  printing  offices,  photograph  galleries, 
halls  with  scenery  and  class  of  occupancy.  As  an  illus- 
tration, mercantile  risks  were  rated  as  follows: 

Building  Stock 

Brick,  detached,  slate  or  metal  roof 100  100 

Brick,  detached,  shingle  roof. 125  125 

1  frame,  detached,  shingle  roof... 150  150 

2  frame,  within  20  feet  of  each  other 250  200 

3  frame,  within  20  feet  of  each  other 350  300 

4  frame,  within  20  feet  of  each  other 450  400 

After  this  work  was  completed  at  an  agency  it  was 
customary  to  call  the  local  agents  together— submit  to 
them  in  a  consecutive  way  the  rates  that  had  been  made, 
when  concessions  and  compromises  were  often  resorted 
to  in  order  to  secure  their  adoption  as  a  whole,  and  these 
were  then  signed  at  the  end  by  all  of  the  agents,  follow- 
ing a  pledge  for  their  strict  observance. 

I  put  in  about  a  year  and  a  half  of  continuous  work  in 
organizing  Local  Boards  and  rating  towns  in  Ohio, 
reporting  to  General  Agent  Montgomery,  Secretary  of 
the  National  Board,  at  New  York. 


32 


Insurance  Department 

A  Department  of  Insurance  in  connection  with  the 
office  of  Ohio  Auditor  of  State,  was  estabHshed  April 
15,  1867  and  the  first  public  report  of  this  new  depart- 
ment was  made  March  17,  1868  by  Mr.  James  Good- 
man, State  Auditor.  Through  this  state  or  government 
office,  the  supervision  of  insurance  was  had  from  1867  to 
1871.  In  the  year  1872  Mr.  Joseph  F.  Wright,  a  mem- 
ber of  our  State  Senate  from  Hamilton  County  intro- 
duced a  bill  which  was  passed  and  enacted  into  a  law 
March  12,  1872,  establishing  our  present  Insurance 
Department.  The  purpose  of  this  bill  and  the  object 
to  be  attained  through  State  supervision  of  the  business 
were  to  furnish  absolute  indemnity  to  the  assured  or 
property  owners  of  our  State  and  also  to  protect  them 
from  outside,  unprincipled  competition  and  from  the 
operations  of  disreputable  and  worthless  companies. 
To  accomplish  the  purpose  of  this  proposed  measure  and 
to  secure  the  enthusiastic  support  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  both  the  lower  and  upper  House,  it  was 
provided  in  this  bill  that  the  Department  when  organ- 
ized, should  be  maintained  by  a  fixed  tax  upon  the  prem- 
ium receipts  of  the  companies — a  feature  of  the  business 
that  has  never  been  changed  nor  has  it  ever  lost  its 
popularity  among  our  State  officials  and  politicians. 
Certain  companies  refused  to  comply  with  the  law  or 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Insurance  Department, 
claiming  that  they  were,  under  their  charters,  exempt 
from  its  requirements.  These  companies  were  as  follows : 

Cincinnati  Insurance  Company  Incorporated  in  1829 
Commercial  Insurance  Company  Incorporated  in  1838 
Firemens  Insurance  Company  Incorporated  in  1832 
Merchants  &  Mfrs.  Ins.  Company'  Incorporated  in  1838 
Washington  Insurance  Company  Incorporated  in  1836 


33 


WcsU'in  Insurance  Company  Incorporated  in  1836 

Cincinnati  Equitable  Ins.  Co.  Incorporated  in  1826 

Eagle  Insurance  Company 
Dayton  of  Dayton  Insurance  Company 

This  law  was  so  amended  in  1880  that  all  companies 
doing  business  in  the  State,  regardless  of  their  locations 
or  theirdates  or  conditionsof  their  charterswere  required 
to  file  their  annual  statements  with,  and  make  their 
reports  to  the  Insurance  Department  and  contribute  to 
the  expense  of  its  maintenance. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  gentlemen 
who  have  filled  the  position  of  Superintendent  of  Insur- 
ance, their  appointments  being  made  by  the  Governors 
in  office  and  as  is  suspected  too  frequently  as  rewards 
for  political  services: 


W.  F.  Church            Superintendent          1872 

W.  D.  Hill 

1876 

Jos.  F.  Wright 

1879 

Charles  H.  Moore                 ' 

1882 

Henry  J.  Reinmund             ' 

1885 

Samuel  E.  Kemp                 ' 

1886 

W.  H.  Kinder 

1891 

W.  M.  Hahn 

1894 

W.  S.  Matthews 

1897 

Arthur  I.  Vorys                     ' 

1901 

Charles  C.  Lemert                * 

1908 

Edmund  H.  Moore               ' 

1911 

Robert  H.  Small 

1914 

Price  Russell                         * 

1914 

Frank  Taggart                      ' 

1915 

W.  H.  Tomlinson                  ' 

1917 

It  may  not  come  within  my  province  in  performing 

the  duties  assigned  me  to  comment  on  the  general  con- 

duct of  these  officials  or  of  this  c 

>ffice  since  it  was  estab- 

34 


lished,  but  it  is  commonly  conceded,  I  believe,  that  the 
men  who  have  occupied  the  position  of  Superintendent 
of  Insurance  have  as  a  general  rule  been  men  of  good 
character  and  ability  and  were  commonly  disposed  to 
act  justly  between  the  state,  the  companies  and  their 
patrons.  There  have,  however,  been  with  them  degrees 
of  efficiency  and  usefulness  and  no  one  who  has  been 
familiar  with  the  operations  of  the  Department  for 
many  years  will  deny  that  some  of  these  officials  were 
more  conscientious  in  their  duties —  bore  far  better  rep- 
utations, enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  public  and  gave 
much  better  general  service  and  satisfaction  than  others. 
Mr.  J.  Gano  Wright,  of  the  firm  of  J.  Gano  Wright  & 
Co.  local  agents  at  Cincinnati,  was  associated  with  Mr. 
Church,  our  first  Insurance  Superintendent,  as  chief 
clerk  or  assistant.  Some  of  the  older  members  of  the 
profession  will  bear  testimony  to  his  effiiency  in  the 
organization  and  general  conduct  of  the  Department;  to 
his  uniform  courtesy  and  to  his  cheerful  readiness  at  all 
times  to  furnish  information  when  asked  for  it. 

Fire  Marshal  Department 

During  the  early  part  of  1900,  a  bill  known  as  Senate 
Bill  No.  51  was  introduced  by  Senator  H.  K.  Hanna, 
having  in  view  the  creation  of  a  Fire  Marshal's  Depart- 
ment for  Ohio.  This  bill  was  passed  by  our  General 
Assembly  and  became  a  law  on  April  16,  1900  and  on 
May  30th  following,  Governor  S.  K.  Nash  appointed 
Mr.  S.  D.  Hollenbeck  to  this  office. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  gentlemen  who 
have  filled  this  position: 

Ohio  State  Fire  Marshals 

S.  D.  Hollenbeck  May  30  1900  to  June  29  1904 
Hy  D.  Davis  June   30    1904    to    May   28    1906 


35 


I).  S.  (rcaiiur  Jimc      4    1908    to    June      3    1908 

Win.  S.  Rogers  May    29    1906    to   June     4    1909 

JohnW.  ZuluM-  June      5    1909    to   June      5    1913 

!<:.  R.  DefenhauKli     June      6    1913    to    July    20    1915 
IkTt  B.  Buckley         July   20    1915    to  April      1    1917 
T.  Alfred  Fleming     April      1    1917 
W.  J.  Leonard  1920 

Tiu'  work  of  this  Department  has  expanded  and  has 
nici'ssarily  and  wisely  been  extended  to  the  performance 
of  duties  not  contemplated  in  the  original  bill.  Its  work 
is  no  longer  limited  to  the  arrest,  conviction  and  punish- 
ment of  incendiaries,  but  has  taken  on  a  broader  scope 
including  fire  protection,  fire  prevention,  improvement 
of  risks,  inspection  of  properties,  and  a  close  co-operation 
with  the  Government  in  the  conservation  of  the  nation's 
wealth.  It  has  the  hearty  support  and  co-operation  of 
all  the  Fire  Insurance  companies  doing  business  in  our 
state  and  its  monthly  reports  are  read  and  studied  with 
interest  and  profit. 

The  following  statistics  will  indicate  the  duties  and 
what  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Fire  Marshal's 
Department : 

Inspections  during  1917. 15,210 

Orders  issued  for  correction  1917 14,754 

Towns  visited  1917 634 

Fire  Drill  in  Schools  1917 500 

Inspections,  Conservation  work  1917 4,000 

Conservation  orders  issued  1917 2,500 

Result  of  Investigations  1917 

Confessions 79 

Warrants 130 

Arrests ^29 

Bound  over. 50 


36 


Failed  to  bind  over 2 

Indictments 47 

Failed  to  indict 13 

Acquittals 7 

Disagreements 4 

Indictments  nol.  pros. ..-  2 

Plead  guilty 8 

Convictions 105 

Table   showing   number   of  convictions  secured  an- 
nually since  the  Department  was  established: 


1901... 

...16 

1907 

.....72 

1902... 

.30 

1908..... 

.....46 

1903... 

..36 

1909..... 

.....70 

1904... 

...29 

1910..... 

.....30 

1905... 

...46 

1911....- 

.....85 

1906... 

...39 

1912 

.....72 

1913... 

.....72 

1914... 

.....74 

1915... 

...91 

1916... 

.....93 

1917... 

...105 

Fires  and   Losses  Reported  by  Years  Since  the 
Department  Was  Established 

Year  No.  Fires  Loss 

1901 7,011 $11,196,189 

1902 5,194 8,000,000 

1903 6,025 7,797,995 

1904 5,812... ..6,850,578 

1905 4,851.. 6,112,707 

1906 4,448 6,990,111 

1907 .......4,534. 7,077,702 

1908 5,532 6,681,703 

1909 4,544 6,537,061 

1910 4,724 6,952,320 

1911 4,930..... ......5,718,120 

1912 5,991 ..8,060,412 

1913..... 5,340 8,952,279 

1914..... ...7,033 7,889,622 


37 


Fiscal  1915-1916...  5,806 6,837,773 

1917 - 5,803 .7,426,300 

Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Department  rarely 
(lid  the  Companies  resort  to  the  Courts  to  maintain  their 
rights  or  punish  criminals  for  burning  their  properties. 
To  make  rit^id  investigations  or  charge  criminality  was 
attended  with  dangers.  Corporations  had  but  slight 
chance  of  success  in  our  Courts  in  any  contention  with 
individuals  either  as  plaintiffs  or  defendants. 

Fire  Prevention 

In  the  year  1906  two  important  committees  of  the 
National  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  merged  into  one 
under  the  name  of  the  Committee  on  Fire  Prevention, 
with  practically  twenty  office  and  field  men,  and  during 
the  two  succeeding  years  some  75  or  more  cities  were 
inspected,  upon  which  full  and  instructive  reports  were 
issued.  Since  the  inauguration  of  this  work  something 
like  900  cities  and  towns  have  been  inspected  and  reports 
thereon  made  under  the  direction  of  this  Committee. 

The  Fire  Prevention  Association  has,  in  its  work, 
passed  beyond  the  boundaries  of  its  original  mission. 
It  has  performed  important  services  that  have  been  too 
commonly  overlooked.  It  has  been  an  important  factor 
in  bringing  about  closer  and  more  friendly  relations 
between  the  companies  and  the  public,  in  removing 
suspicion  and  prejudice  through  publicity  and  educa- 
tion, and  in  creating  a  healthy  public  opinion  along  the 
lines  of  conservation  of  life  and  property. 

Within  the  past  decade  or  so  a  very  marked  change 
has  been  developed  along  the  lines  of  cure  and  preven- 
tion. Our  great  trunk  lines  of  railroad,  as  well  as  our 
large  manufacturing  establishments  and  our  industrial 
institutions,  instead  of  contesting  death  and  damage 

38 


claims  in  our  uncertain  courts,  are  adopting  every  known 
device  having  merit,  for  the  prevention  of  injuries  and 
accidents. 

The  old  time  doctor,  traveling  over  the  country  on 
horseback,  holding  down  a  pair  of  pill  bags  loaded  with 
calomel,  quinine,  blue  mass  and  other  like  poisons,  and 
equipped  with  a  knife  for  spilling  human  blood  and  a 
pair  of  brutal  forceps  for  pulling  teeth,  has  been  relegated 
to  the  rear,  and  in  his  place  have  come  the  skilled 
physician,  the  scientist  and  the  philanthropist,  for  the 
prevention  of  disease  and  the  relief  of  suffering,  by  the 
use  of  such  common  sense  methods  as  dame  nature  has 
placed  at  our  command. 

The  Fire  Insurance  Companies  had  come  to  look 
upon  their  losses  as  unavoidable  and  unpreventable, 
paying  their  claims  with  a  stoic  indifference  and  without 
any  special  investigation  or  classification  of  their  causes. 

Col.  Dion  Geraldine,  in  charge  of  the  construction 
work  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago  in  1893, 
asked  his  assistant.  Col.  A.  C.  Speed,  the  next  in  com- 
mand, to  organize  a  fire  department  from  the  employees 
on  the  ground.  In  reply  to  this  request  Mr.  Speed 
urged  that  an  organization  of  these  men  in  a  fire  preven- 
tion association  would  be  much  better  from  every  point 
of  view,  and  that  it  would  be  much  easier  and  more 
economical  to  prevent  fires  by  practising  safety  first, 
than  it  would  be  to  extinguish  them  after  once  being 
started.  This  suggestion  was  at  once  put  into  effect 
and  here  originated  and  was  organized,  so  far  as  known, 
the  first  Fire  Prevention  Association  in  the  world. 

The  infrequency  of  fires  and  the  small  amount  of 
losses  therefrom  during  the  Columbian  Exposition 
clearly  demonstrated  to  both  Col.  Speed  and  his  asso- 
ciates the  practical  benefit  from  such  an  organization  to 
property  owners  as  well  as  to  insurance  companies. 


39 


Oil  (lie  4(Ii  (lay  of  April  1895  pursuant  to  call, a meet- 
iiiK  of  state  and  special  agents  was  held  in  the  Hartman 
Hotel,  Columbus,  Ohio,  when  Col.  Speed  presented  a 
tentative  Constitution  and  By-Laws,  including  a  general 
plan  for  the  operation  of  a  Fire  Prevention  Association, 
which,  after  some  discussion,  was  unanimously  adopted. 
Of  the  72  persons  present,  all  without  a  single  exception, 
joined  this  new  organization;  hence  Ohio  must  be  given 
the  credit  and  Col.  Speed  the  honor  for  bringing  about 
this  first  organization  of  the  kind,  so  important  to  fire 
insurance  companiesandtothebusiness  and  the  econom- 
ical interests  of  our  country.  Neither  Col.  Speed  nor 
any  of  the  members  of  this  new  organization  then  had 
the  vision  or  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  see  that  in  the  near 
future  similar  associations  would  be  organized  in  prac- 
tically every  state  in  the  Union — that  fire  prevention 
methods  would  be  taught  in  our  schools  and  colleges — 
that  the  press  would  welcome  articles  on  this  subject  for 
publication,  and  that  the  Governors  of  our  different 
States  would,  by  proclamation,  set  apart  a  certain  day 
as  Fire  Prevention  Day  and  urge  upon  our  citizens  their 
faithful  observance. 

The  movement  has  developed  rapidly  and  has  gained 
a  firm  foot  hold  in  the  business  and  the  social  life  of 
our  citizenship.  It  now  holds  high  rank  in  our  social 
and  financial  problems.  It  has  also  developed  along 
other  lines  of  usefulness  and  has  taken  advanced  steps 
towards  the  prevention  of  physical  accident  and  death. 
It  has  adopted  as  its  motto  "Safety  First,"  and  through 
its  originator  and  by  his  efforts  has  had  many  new 
Building  Codes  enacted  in  our  cities  and  municipalities. 

Its  first  President,  Mr.  A.  C.  Speed,  State  Agent  of 
the  American  Central  Insurance  Company,  was  elected 
at  this  meeting  held  at  the  Hartman  Hotel,   and  the 

40 


following  named  persons  have  served  as  presidents  of 
the  Association. 

A.  C.  Speed. ..1905 

I.W.  Canfield 1906 

J.A.Cloud. .1907 

H.  W.  Clayton....l908 
W.  B.Goodwin....l909 
Thos.  H.  Smith....l910 
C.  T.  Deatrick-...1911 
W.G.Shannon....l912 


C.  E.  Monroe .1913 

Geo.  Diebold .1914 

C.  O.  Wood 1915 

R.D.Wiley 1916 

W.  T.  Eaton  .....1917 

J.  E.  Lyons 1918 

W.  R.  Drake  .....1919 
C.  E.  Monroe... 1920 


Bailey,  O.M. 

Balsmeyer,  J.  R. 

Barrett,  D.  P. 

Bartles,  H.  A. 

Bell,  G.  H. 

Bonar,  L.  J. 

Bort,  L.  W. 
*Brooks,  H.  M. 

Campbell,  J.  B. 

Canfield,  I.W. 
*Carry,  H.  W. 

Clayton,  H.  W. 
fCleveland,  G.  W. 

Cloud,  J.  A. 
*Cluttia,  C.  A. 

Cook,  M.J. 

Corry,  C.  B. 

Cox,  A.  W. 

Creamer,  L.  F. 
*Dalton,  H.  L. 

Daniel,  W.C. 

Deatrick,  C.  T. 
*DeCamp,J.M. 

Diebold,  George 
♦Donnelly,  M. 


Charter  Members 

S.  A.  County  of  Philad. 

S.  A.  Western  Undrs. 

S.  A.  Traders 

S.  A.  Concordia 

S.A.  N.  B.  &M. 

S.  A.  North  America 

S.  A.  Hanover 

S.  A.  Germania,  N.  Y. 

S.  A.  German,  Ind. 

S.  A.  American,  N.  J. 

S.  A.  Phoenix,  Conn. 

S.  A.  Germania 

S.  A.  Cinti.  Ins.  Bureau 

S.  A.  Phoenix  of  Eng. 

S.  A.  Norwich  Union 

Sec.  Mansfield  Mutual 

S.A.  L&L&G 

S.  A.  Cooper 

S.  A.  Teutonia 

S.  A.  Royal 

S.  A.  Northern,  Eng. 

S.  A.  Home 

G.A.L&L&G 

S.  A.  National  Union 

Pres.  Anchor 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Toledo,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Mansfield,  Ohio 
Bellefontaine,  Ohio 
Springfield,  Ohio 
Niles,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Springfield,  Ohio 
Troy,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Mansfield,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Osborne,  Ohio 
Osborne,  Ohio 
Osborne,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ouio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Napoleon,  Ohio 


41 


Duffcy,  B.T. 

Durand,  W.  B. 

DycJ.O. 

Evans,  A.  N. 

Everett,  H.  E. 
*Flcming,  A.  W. 
♦Fogg,  Walter,  R. 
♦Goodwin,  W.  B. 

Grim,M.  F. 

Heaton,  R.  B. 

HeCox,  C.  L. 

Herman,  W.  H. 

Hoover,  John 

Huggard,  R.  T. 

Jones,  F".  M. 

Jones  A.  W. 

Jones,  W.  E. 

Julian,  N.T. 

King,  N.S. 
♦Kline,  Paul 

Latimer,  Dana  E. 

Lent,  L.  A. 

Loomis,  C.  R. 

McClintock,  B.  R. 

McCormick,  A.  F. 

McConnell,  G.  R. 
♦McCray,  C.  G. 

McKay,  A.  F. 

March,  G.  K. 

Marot,  Benj. 

Miller,  C.  G. 
♦Monroe,  C.  E. 

Monroe,  W.  M. 

Moore,  R.  B. 

Morgan,  E.  D. 

Murray,  F.  F. 

Neuberger,  J.  M. 
♦Norris,  J.  M. 

Norris,  P.  E. 
♦O'Kane,  H. 


S.  A.  Royal  Detroit,  Mich. 

S.  A.  Glens  Falls  Oberlin,  Ohio 

S.  A.  German  American  Springfield,  Ohio 


S.  A.  Equitable 

S.  A.  Michigan  F&M 

S.  A.  National,  Ct. 

S.  A.  N.  Y.  Undrwr's. 

S.  A.  Aetna 

S.  A.  Union,  Pa. 

S.  A.  Cinti.  Undrwr's. 

S.  A.  American,  Pa. 

S.  A.  Spring  Garden 

S.  A.  Lon  &  Lane. 


Columbus,  Ohio 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Salem.  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Dayton,  Ohio 


S.  A.  Springfield  F&M   Columbus,  Ohio 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Painesville,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Troy,  Ohio 


S.  A.  Sun 

S.  A.  New  Hampshire 

S.  A.  Security 

S.  A.  Agricultural 

Adj.  Hartford 

S.  A.  Aetna 

S.A.S.  U.&N. 

S.  A.  Pennsylvania 

S.  A.  Citizens 

S.  A.  Western 

Sec.  Ohio  Undr.  Mut. 

S.  A.  Cent.  Mfrs.  Mut 

S.  A.  German  American  Logan,  Ohio 

S.  A.  Firemens,  N.  J.        Columbus,  Ohio 

S.  A.  Firemens,  Fund       Hillsdale,  Mich. 

S.  A.  St.  Paul  F&M        Dayton,  Ohio 

S.  A.  Rochester  German  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

S.  A.  N.  Y.  Undrwr's.      Cleveland,  Ohio 

S.  A.  N.  Y.  Undrwr's.      Cincinnati,  Ohio 

S.  A.  Phoenix,  N.  Y. 

Mgr.  Home 

S.  A.  U.  S.  Fire 

S.  A.  Atlas 

S.  A.  Columbia,  Ohio 

S.  A.  Columbia,  Ohio 

S.  A.  N.  Y.  Undrwr's. 


Cambridge,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus.  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 


42 


Parsons,  T.  C. 
tPatton,  C.  H. 

Powell,  J.  M. 
*Prentice,  F.  D. 

Ranson,  F.  W. 

Rawlings,  R.  R. 

Raynolds,  R.  L. 

Rice,  S.  W. 
*Rice,  W.  R. 
fRoss,  A.  P. 

Ross,  C.  R. 

Rowland,  N.  C. 

Sanderson,  A.  G. 
fSellers,  T.  B. 

Shannon,  W.  G. 

Shreffler,  H.J. 

Singleton,  J.  P. 
*Smith,  C. 

Smith,  J.  E. 

Smith,  R. 

Smith,  T.  H. 

Sowards,  W. 

Speed,  A.  C. 

Steeb,  G.  V. 

Stevenson,  J.  G. 

UnderhiU,  E.  B. 

Vernon,  J.  R, 

Wasson,  A.  M.  L. 

Wallace,  J.  M. 

Weinland,  J.  A. 

Weyer,  J. 

Wilbor,  L.  A. 

Wilson,  G.  T. 

Winwood,  G.  M. 

♦Wood,  C.  O. 

♦Wood,  W. 

Zweig,  H.  M. 


S.  A.  Western,  Pa. 
Mgr.  Clev.  Ins.  Bur. 
S.  A.  Royal  Exchange 
V.  P.  Anchor 
S.  A.  Prov.-W'ashington 
S.  A.  Mich.  Commercial 
S.  A.  Connecticut 
S.  A.  German,  W.  Va. 
S.  A.  German,  W,  Va. 
Sec.OhioAss'nF.  LA. 
Sec.  Western  Mutual 
S.  A.  London 
S.  A.  Aetna 

Mgr.  Ohio  Insp.  Bureau 
S.  A.  Anchor 
S.  A.  Hartford 
S.  A.  Niagara 
S.  A.  German,  Freeport 
S.  A.  Ohio  Farmers 
Sec.  Richland  Mutual 
S.  A.  German,  Freeport 
S.  A.  Norwich  Union 
S.  A.  American  Central 
S.  A.  Continental 
S.  A.  Knox  Mutual 
S.  A.  Westchester 
Pres.  Ohio  Mutual 
S.  A.  Franklin  Fire 
S.  A.  National,  Ct. 
S.  A.  Fire  Association 
Sec.  Retail  Drug.  Mutl. 
S.  A.  Hartford 
S.  A.  German,  Pa. 
S.  A.  Phoenix,  Ct. 
S.  A.  Home 
Mgr.  Anchor 
S.  A.  Farmers  &  Mer. 


Cleveland,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Urbana,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Wheeling,  W.  Va. 
Wheeling,  W.  Va. 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Urbana,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Eaton,  Ohio 
Akron,  Ohio 
Chicago,  Ills. 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Chardon,  Ohio 
Mansfield,  Ohio 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Toledo,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Salem,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Columbus,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Cleveland,  Ohio 
Dayton,  Ohio 
Springfield,  Ohio 
Springfield,  Ohio 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Chicago,  Ills. 


♦Auxiliary  Members 
fAssociate  Members 


43 


Ohio  Inspection  Bureau 

This  imporlaiU  and  now  indispensable  institution 
was  l)()rn  of  chaotic  conditions.  The  old  guess  work  plan 
.111(1  oduT  nu'tiiods  not  much  l^ctter,  which  had  been 
used  in  making  rates,  were  not  only  unscientific  but 
faulty,  unsatisfactory  and  productive  of  results  that 
could  not  be  successfully  defended  from  any  point  of 
\iew.  Such  rates  as  had  prevailed  or  had  been  in  use 
were  made  by  local  agents,  by  special  committees 
ajipointed  for  the  purpose,  or  by  Special  Agents  often 
ha\ing  selfish  ends  in  view.  These  rates  could  be  and 
were  reduced  from  time  to  time  by  competition — in 
some  instances  real  and  in  other  instances  imaginary. 
Where  the  assured  was  shrewd  enough  to  play  one 
agency  against  another  he  commonly  succeeded  in 
having  his  rate  reduced,  and  then  scorned  the  agent  for 
being  such  an  easy  mark. 

The  conviction  had  been  growing  with  the  companies 
that  a  possible  remedy  for  many  of  the  existing  evils 
might  be  found  in  a  Central  Rating  Bureau,  having 
jurisdiction  throughout  the  State,  with  authority  to 
make  rates,  publish  the  same  and  sell  them  to  the 
companies. 

Under  our  Ohio  law  two  or  more  companies  were  per- 
mitted to  "supervise  defective  structures,  or  advise 
respecting  thereto,  and  to  suggest  improvements  for 
lessening  fire  hazards,  or  advise  as  to  the  relative  value 
of  risks."  Under  this  permit  by  legislative  enactment, 
the  Ohio  Inspection  Bureau  was  organized  during  the 
first  days  of  Januar>',  1895,  and  Mr.  James  W.  Cochran 
was  engaged  as  its  manager.  This  gentleman  had  a 
valuable  experience  as  Secretary  of  the  Columbus  Local 
Board,  and  his  qualifications  for  this  position  and  his 
fitness  for  the  important  and  delicate  duties  to  be  per- 

44 


formed  were  very  generally  conceded  and  afterwards 
demonstrated. 

The  Bureau  in  its  beginning,  assumed  supervision 
over  all  points  in  the  State  excepting  Cleveland,  Cincin- 
nati, Dayton  and  Toledo,  and  these  exceptions  were 
made  for  the  reason  that  the  business  at  these  points 
was  being  quite  satisfactorily  conducted  by  their  local 
organizations.  After  some  succeeding  years,  the  Cleve- 
land Board  of  Underwriters,  the  Cincinnati  Board  of 
Underwriters,  the  Dayton  Board  of  Underwriters,  the 
Toledo  Board  of  Underwriters  continued  their  opera- 
tions and  published  all  rates  for  their  respective  districts. 

In  1898,  Cleveland  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Bureau,  and  this  was  followed  by  Toledo  within  a 
couple  of  years  thereafter.  Dayton  had  previously 
been  taken  over  by  the  Bureau,  but  Cincinnati  main- 
tained its  own  organization  from  1893,  and  operated 
through  the  Cincinnati  insurance  agencies. 

Neither  the  Underwriter's  Laboratories  nor  the  Nat- 
ional Fire  Protective  Association  had  at  that  time  been 
organized,  neither  did  we  have  a  State  Fire  Marshal 
Department,  nor  a  State  Building  Code.  The  Univer- 
sal Mercantile  Schedule  had  come  into  use  in  certain  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  more  especially  in  the  Eastern 
Departments,  but  was  not  used  to  any  great  extent  or 
with  success  in  Ohio. 

Mr.  John  G.  Monrose  of  Dallas,  Texas  who  had  had 
considerable  experience  in  Schedule  Rating  in  that  State 
was  engaged  by  Mr.  Cochran  to  introduce  the  system 
and  promote  the  work  of  schedule  rating  in  Ohio,  which 
he  did  with  very  remarkable  success.  He  continued  his 
connection  with  the  Bureau  until  1897,  when  he  severed 
his  relations  to  accept  the  Ohio  state  agency  of  the  Con- 
tinental  Insurance  Company  of  New  York.     At  the 

45 


prcstMit  tiiiH-  lu-  is  tlu-  manager  of  the  Eastern  Adjust- 
ment Company  of  Philadelphia. 

Tlu>  first  employee  of  the  Bureau  was  Mr.  C.  H. 
Pat  ton,  who  started  in  as  a  stenographer,  messenger 
and  general  utility  man,  and  who  is  now  manager  of 
(in-  Cii'vcland  iiranch  of  the  Bureau,  where  his  duties 
though  of  a  delicate  nature,  are  handled  with  efficiency 
and  satisfaction. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Brown  was  also  an  employee  of  the  Colum- 
bus Inspection  Bureau.fbut  in  1898  was  transferred  to 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.  and  put  in  charge  of  the  business  of 
that  cf)mmonwealth,  which  has  since  been  taken  over  by 
the  Ohio  Inspection  Bureau  at  Columbus. 

The  first  complete  book  of  rates  published  by  the 
Bureau  was  for  the  city  of  Delaware.  This  production 
naturally  and  expectedly  created  criticism  and  discus- 
sion as  such  innovations  usually  do.  Shortly  thereafter 
Canton,  Bucyrus,  Kenton  and  other  cities  were  rated — 
the  books  of  rates  were  published,  and  as  the  work  in- 
creased and  broadened,  criticism  became  less. 

The  office  at  Columbus  in  the  meantime  had  become 
the  source  and  the  fountain  head  for  all  information — 
a  compendium  of  knowledge  that  had  only  to  be  drawn 
upon  by  anyone  in  doubt  for  the  settlement  of  any  ques- 
tion in  controversy. 

Some  individual  of  a  poetic  turn  of  mind  was  struck  by 
the  "divine  afflatus"  and  during  his  exuberant  joy  wrote 
the  following: 

"On  the  hitherward  side  of  the  hills  of  Ho 

In  the  Valley  of  Hokus-po, 

They  say  there's  a  fellow 

Who's  able  to  tell 

What  anyone  wishes  to  know. 

So  when  you're  in  doubt, 


46 


Just  go  and  find  out; 
Consult  with  that  seer 
Who  makes  everything  clear 
In  the  Valley  of  Hokus-po." 

Oh  say,  does  a  house  burn  up 

Or  does  a  house  burn  down? 

When  a  gasoline  lamp  blows  up, 

Say,  where  does  the  blamed  thing  go? 

If  you  want  to  find  out. 

You  must  go 

To  that  fellow  in  Hokus-po." 

In  1898  the  Cleveland  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  had 
reached  the  point  where  disbandment  seemed  inevitable 
and  at  that  critical  time,  Mr.  C.  H.  Patton  was  trans- 
ferred from  Columbus  to  that  city  and  was  given  charge 
of  the  Fire  Insurance  business,  so  far  as  the  Cleveland 
Underwriters  Association  was  concerned,  and  the  ap- 
pointment was  so  fitting  and  opportune  that  he  still 
retains  that  position  with  honor  and  credit. 

Mr.  T.  B.  Sellers,  the  first  employee  in  the  Columbus 
office  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  Manager  of  the 
main  or  central  Bureau,  which  he  has  filled  with  such 
marked  efficiency  and  discretion  as  to  retain  the  highest 
respect  and  fullest  confidence  of  our  insurance  interests. 

As  the  work  broadened  throughout  the  State  the 
situation  improved — the  conditions  gradually  became 
better  and  the  relations  between  the  assured  and  the 
public  became  better  understood  and  more  cordial. 

In  1901,  Mr.  T.  W.  Cleveland  was  taken  from  the 
Cleveland  Bureau  and  placed  in  charge  of  the  office  at 
Toledo  where  his  work  was  so  successful  and  satisfactory 
that  he  was  later  transferred  to  the  position  of  manager 
of  the  Michigan  Inspection  Bureau. 

47 


In  1<)02,  Mr.  ('(m  hr.in  resigned  the  management  of  the 
('(•111 ml  P)iin;iii  at  Columbus  to  engage  in  important 
work  of  liis  own  selection  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Tlie  \ahie  of  the  work  performed  by  the  Bureau  can- 
not l)e  estimated  in  dollars  and  cents  only.  The  fire 
insurance  Inisincss  has  been  placed  on  a  higher  level  and 
a  sounder  basis;  both  the  standing  and  the  character  of 
the  i)rofession  have  been  improved — the  moral  and 
business  standing  of  our  agency  force  has  been  elevated 
— greater  loyalty  to  the  Companies  and  increased  respect 
for  tlu'ir  relations  and  requirements  are  observed — and 
old  jealousies,  animosities  and  unprofessional  practices 
have  been  largely  relegated  to  the  junk  pile. 

To  this  Bureau  are  closely  allied  the  work  and  success 
of  our  Field  Clubs,  our  Agent's  Associations — both 
local  and  state,  and  the  Fire  Prevention  Association. 

The  Audit  Bureau 

Under  the  provisions  of  our  Anti-Discrimination  Law, 
the  companies  decided  to  put  into  effect  some  organi- 
zation whose  duties  would  be  to  see  that  where  proper 
and  just  rates  were  made,  they  should  be  equitably  ap- 
plied and  that  there  should  be  such  uniformity  of  forms 
as  would  be  fair  to  both  the  assured  and  the  companies. 

In  August,  1917,  the  Ohio  Audit  Bureau  was  estab- 
lished with  headquarters  at  Columbus  and  its  organi- 
zation was  effected  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Beggs,  w^ho  w^as  made 
its  General  Manager.  While  the  main  office  was,  and 
was  to  be  at  Columbus,  branch  offices  were  established 
as  follows: 

Cleveland W.  J.  Beggs,  Mgr. 

Cincinnati Joseph  Rielage,  Supt. 

Toledo Cleaves  Vail,  Supt. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Atwell  is  manager  of  the  Columbus  office. 


48 


Like  every  new  movement  or  innovation,  the  Bureau 
met  with  objections  and  criticisms — some  honest — 
some  not — but  by  discreet  management  and  friendly, 
courteous  explanations  these  have  largely  been  removed 
and  now  the  Audit  Bureau  is  regarded  with  practically 
universal  favor,  and  as  an  almost  indispensable  medium 
for  the  transaction  of  business. 

While  Mr.  Beggs  is  not  seeking  for  compliments  the 
fact  remains  that  the  success  of  the  Audit  Bureau  is 
largely  due  to  his  tactful  management. 

The  Anti-Discrimination  law,  the  organization  of  the 
Audit  Bureau  and  the  adoption  of  Uniform  Forms  by 
the  companies  have  played  havoc  with  the  favorite  prac- 
tices of  some  of  our  talented  artists  in  legerdemain,  pre- 
venting them  from  cutting  the  rates,  rebating,  using  bad 
forms  and  whipping  the  devil  around  the  stump  by  pay- 
ing fictitious  prices  for  articles  of  merchandise.  These 
were  practically  the  only  persons  among  our  Ohio 
Local  Agents  who  protested  against  these  advanced 
movements. 

Western  Adjustment  Company 

When  a  loss  occurred  involving  a  number  of  com- 
panies,— often  a  dozen  and  sometimes  as  many  as 
twenty  or  more — it  was  expected  that  they  would  be 
represented  by  their  own  adjusters  who  were  usually 
their  State  or  Special  Agents. 

Commonly  speaking,  it  was  impracticable  to  ascer- 
tain the  values  and  loss  except  by  or  through  a  small 
working  force,  and  it  was  the  common  practice  to  select 
a  committee  or  committees,  as  the  case  might  require, 
for  this  special  purpose.  The  representatives  not  so  en- 
gaged usually  had  but  little  to  do  beyond  sitting  about 
waiting  for  the  final  figures  to  fill  in  their  own  respective 
Proofs  of  Loss. 


49 


The  companies  realizing  that  this  common  practice 
resulted  in  much  loss  of  valuable  time  and  in  an  unnec- 
cessary  expenditure  of  money  began  to  cast  about  to 
find  some  remedy. 

In  1888  a  number  of  Managers  at  Chicago  met  and 
organized  "The  Western  Adjustment  Company" — sub- 
scribed and  paid  in  a  sufficient  amount  of  money  to 
cover  the  capital  stock  and  provide  for  the  necessary 
expenses  in  launching  the  enterprise.  With  the  develop- 
ment and  gradual  growth  of  its  business,  the  number  of 
Stockholders  increased  until  there  are  at  the  present 
time  something  over  100  including  both  Union  and 
Bureau  Managers.  The  objects  of  this  organization 
are  defined  as  follows ; 

"Co-operation  on  losses  in  which  two  or  more  com- 
panies were  concurrently  interested. 

"Efficiency  in  bringing  trained  and  capable  men  to 
these  special  lines  of  work." 

"Economy  in  expenses  which  have  formerly  been 
excessive  on  account  of  the  number  of  men  congregating 
on  large  losses." 

The  first  manager  of  this  company,  with  heaquarters 
at  Chicago  was  Mr.  Frank  Van  Voorhees  who  had  for- 
merly been  a  Field  man  and  a  specially  successful  and 
capable  adjuster.  Succeeding  him  in  this  office  w^as  Mr. 
George  Crooks,  Assistant  General  Agent  of  the  Liver- 
pool, London  and  Globe  Insurance  Company.  He  was 
succeeded  as  Manager  by  Mr.  M.  S.  Woodward,  who 
had  been  a  State  Agent  for  the  same  Company.  At  the 
present  time,  Mr.  W.  E.  Mariner  is  in  charge  and  is 
Manager  of  this  important  office. 

The  business  of  this  organization  has  grown  to  such  an 
extent,  and  has  been  so  eminently  satisfactory  that 
branch  offices  have  been  established  in  Ohio  as  follows: 


50 


Cincinnati— 1898    Mr.  R.  J.  Burlingame,  Mgr. 

Cleveland— 1903       Mr.  C.  F.  Barnard,  Mgr. 

Columbus— 1917    Mr.  R.  R.  Lippincott,  Mgr. 

Toledo— 1918  Mr.  W.  M.  Todd,  Mgr. 

Using  the  Western  Adjustment  Company's  organiza- 
tion as  a  model,  other  like  Companies  have  been  organ- 
ized as  follows: 

The  Eastern  Adjustment  Company 
The  Southern  Adjustment  Company 
The  Pacific  Coast  Adjustment  Company 
That  the  Western  Adjustment  Company  has  made  an 
unqualified  success — that  it  has  been  instrumental  in 
the  reduction  of  adjustment  expenses — that  it  has  per- 
formed its  duites  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  com- 
panies as  well  as  to  their  claimants,  and  that  it  bears  a 
favorable   reputation   in   the  minds  of  the  public,  will 
be  commonly  conceded. 

Good  Adjusters,  like  poets,  are  born,  not  made.  To 
pick  out  a  dozen  men  who  might  quality  for  Congress 
would  be  an  easier  task  than  to  discover  one  man  fully 
qualified  for  the  other  position.  He  must  be  a  man 
of  intelligence — of  wide  information — good  judge- 
ment— a  correct  reader  of  human  nature — have  a 
judicial  mind — be  able  to  see  both  sides  of  disputed 
questions,  to  interpret  the  contrast  fairly,  and  deal 
justly  with  claimants.  He  must  be  diplomatic  yet 
firm — slow  of  speech  and  not  given  to  wrath  and  he 
should  be  honest. 

Special  Agents  rarely  made  high  grade  Adjusters. 
Unlike  the  Mythological  Guyasticutus  which  could, 
at  its  pleasure,  shorten  or  lengthen  its  legs  on  either 
side  to  enable  it  to  graze  on  the  grass  or  browse  from 
the  trees  on  the  mountain  slopes,  they  cannot  so 
adapt  their  mental  faculties  as  to  successfully  handle 
the  two,  and  unlike,  sides  of  our  business. 


51 


Honored  Associates 

On  Monday  evening,  May  6,  1918,  an  informal  meet- 
ing was  held  at  the  Deshler  Hotel,  Columbus,  Ohio, 
when  the  formation  of  a  Society  to  be  composed  of  Field 
Men  who  had  been  in  Company  Service  and  pay,  25  or 
more  years,  was  considered  and  discussed.  The  propo- 
sition meeting  with  favor  from  all  of  the  gentlemen  pres- 
ent, a  committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Cyrus  Woodbury, 
and  Mr.  N.  T.  Julian,  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  Con- 
stitution and  By-laws  and  report  same  at  a  future  meet- 
ing to  be  called  by  the  chairman. 

This  called  meeting  was  held  at  the  Deshler  Hotel, 
Columbus,  on  Monday  evening,  June  24th,  1918,  wath 
the  following  named  persons  in  attendance: 

H.  W.  Clayton  R.  T.  Huggard 

N.  T.  Julian  Robert  L.  Raynolds 
Thomas  H.  Smith  J.  A.  Weinland 
Cyrus  Woodbury  L.  J.  Bonar 

Mr.  Woodbury,  chairman  of  the  committee  submit- 
ted the  following  constitution  (including  by-laws,) which 
was  upon  motion,  unanimously  adopted,  showing  a  new 
plan  and  novel  scheme,  as  well  as  a  fine  Italian  hand  in 
the  method  of  selecting  officers: 

Section  1 — This  organization  shall  be  known  as  The 
Honored  Associates  of  the  Field  Men 
of  Ohio. 

Object 

Section  2 — The  object  of  this  association  shall  be  to 
meet  for  social  converse,  to  cultivate  closer 
friendship  among  the  associates — to  encour- 
age emulation  and  faithfulness  among  the 
younger  men  of  the  profession. 

52 


Membership 

Section  3 — Every  person  now  a  resident  of  Ohio  who  is 
now  on  the  payroll  of  a  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany as  a  Special  or  State  Agent,  and  who 
has  been  so  continuously  employed  for  twen- 
ty five  years,  or  more,  shall  be  deemed 
eligible  for  membership  in  the  organization. 

Section  4 — There  shall  be  but  one  class  of  members 
except  those  who  have  been  honorably  re- 
tired by  their  companies  and  still  remain  on 
the  payroll,  to  be  known  as  the  "Most  Hon- 
ored Associate,"  and  entitled  to  all  the  priv- 
ileges and  benefits  of  the  organization. 

Offices 

Section  5 — The  ofiices  of  this  organization  shall  consist 
of  a  President,  Vice  President,  and  Secretary- 
Treasurer,  who  shall  be  selected  as  follows: 
The  Associate  oldest  in  point  of  years  shall 
be  the  President,  and  shall  hold  his  office 
until  removed  by  death,  or  for  cause.  The 
Vice  President  shall  be  the  next  oldest  Assoc- 
iate in  point  of  years  and  he  shall  succeed  to 
the  Presidency  whenever  the  President  shall 
die  or  be  removed.  The  Secretary-Treasurer 
shall  be  the  youngest  man  in  point  of  years. 

The  following  poem,  written  by  one  of  the  members 
was  adopted  as  an  expression  of  the  sentiment  of  the 
society: 


S3 


The  Bridge 

"An  old  man,  going  a  lone  highway, 
C'anic  at  the  evening,  cold  and  gray, 

To  a  chasm  vast  and  deep  and  wide. 
The  old  man  crossed  in  the  twilight  dim, 

The  sullen  stream  had  no  fear  for  him. 
But  he  turned  when  safe  on  the  other  side. 

And  built  a  bridge  to  span  the  tide. 

'Old  man',  said  a  fellow  pilgrim  near. 

You  are  wasting  your  strength  with  building  here, 
Your  journey  will  end  with  the  ending  day. 

You  never  again  will  pass  this  way; 
You've  crossed  the  chasm  deep  and  wide. 

Why  build  you  this  bridge  at  eventide? 

The  builder  lifted  his  old  gray  head, 

'Good  friend,  in  the  path  I've  come,'  he  said. 
There  followeth  after  me  today, 

A  youth  whose  feet  must  pass  this  way; 
This  chasm  that  has  been  as  naught  to  me. 

To  that  fair-haired  youth  may  a  pitfall  be, 
He,  too,  must  cross  in  the  twilight  dim — 

Good  friend,  I'm  building  this  bridge  for  him." 


54 


Greetings  at  the  Annual  Meeting  Held  In  Mans- 
field, May  23rd,  1919. 

Honored  Associates — thrice  welcome  guests, 
To  our  home — It  is  the  conjoined  requests, 

Of  both  host  and  hostess  that  mirth  and  song, 

Tune  every  heart,  and  their  sweet  notes  prolong. 

By  duties  done,  to  the  fair  mountain  height, 
We've  climbed,  and  now  stand  in  glory's  light. 

And  as  we  descend  with  the  setting  sun. 
May  vision  widen  with  our  honors  won. 

'Tis  here  we  tender  you  the  best  we  hold. 

Our  loves  and  friendships,  more  worth  than  gold, 

And  though  time  has  changed  our  outer  looks. 
Our  hearts  still  sing  like  the  purling  brooks. 

We  wish  you  health,  and  may  you  ever  be 
From  sordid  cares  and  all  sorrows  free, 

Tho  our  heads  grow  gray  with  earth's  changing  cHme 
May  our  hearts  keep  young  with  the  passing  time. 

Honored  Associates — both  tried  and  true. 

Loyal  we'll  be,  till  with  old  time  we're  through, 

Till  the  good  Master  calls  us — one  by  one, 

And  speaks  the  gladsome  words — "Well  done, 
well  done." 


55 


Valued  Policy  Law 

III  the  year  1878  a  loss  occured  on  Put-in-Bay  island 
destroying  a  large  frame  summer  hotel.  The  assured 
and  the  adjusters  failing  to  reach  an  agreement,  the  loss 
was,  after  some  delay  and  vexatious  conduct  on  the  part 
of  t!u'  claimant,  submitted  to  competent,  impartial  arbi- 
trators for  ascertainment;  men  familiar  with  the  cost  of 
such  structures.  Their  award  was  probably  in  excess  of 
the  actual  cash  value  of  the  property,  but  the  insurance 
was  considerably  in  excess  of  the  award.  The  assured, 
a  Mr.  G,  a  banker  of  Norwalk,  defeated  as  he  was  in 
obtaining  money  to  which  he  was  not  entilted,  decided 
to  avenge  himself  on  the  companies  and  to  do  this  he 
induced  Representative  Rowland  of  Ashtabula  County 
to  introduce  a  bill  in  our  Legislature  making  it  obligatory 
on  the  part  of  the  companies  in  the  case  of  a  total  loss 
on  a  building,  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  insurance  re- 
gardless of  its  value.  The  bill  was  passed  and  the  law 
was  then  and  is  still  known  as  the  Rowland  or  Valued 
Policy  Law.  An  amendment  was  afterwards  passed 
making  it  illegal  to  insure  cellar  walls  and  foundation  in 
connection  with  a  building  and  this  was  done  to  enable  a 
claimant  to  collect  a  total  loss  on  a  structure  where  these 
were  not  destroyed.  This  bill  sounded  the  death  knell 
to  Mr.  Rowland's  political  aspirations.  It  defeated  him 
for  nomination  as  a  candidate  to  Congress,  to  which  he 
ardently  aspired.  Re  admitted  on  more  than  one  occas- 
ion that  fathering  this  bill  was  the  great  political  mis- 
take of  his  life  and  thathewould  gladly  rectify  the  error 
he  had  made  could  the  opportunity  be  offered  him  for 
doing  so.  A  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
wrote  him  soliciting  his  opinion  of  a  similar  bill  for  that 
state,  to  which  he  replied  that  "if  he  had  any  regard  for 
his  personal  or  political  reputation — for  his  own  personal 

56 


happiness,  to  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  such  a 
measure." 

The  Courts  of  Ohio  have  given  their  sanction  to  a  con- 
tract which  is  commonly  known  as  the  Standard  Fire 
Insurance  PoHcy,  under  which  the  companies  are  trans- 
acting their  business.  Our  Legislature,  by  the  enact- 
ment of  this  Valued  Policy  Law,  placed  before  the  minds 
of  our  policy  holders  the  suggestion  and  temptation  to 
commit  crime.  Then  on  the  other  hand  it  has  made 
other  laws  providing  for  the  punishment  of  the  criminal 
and  the  morally  weak  for  committing  this  very  crime 
which  they  have  thus  been  tempted  to  commit.  One 
case  was  carried  up  to  our  Supreme  Court  from  Ashta- 
bula County  in  which  judgment  was  rendered  against 
the  company.  The  building  was  not  only  greatly  over- 
insured,  but  had  been  mortgaged  and  had  become  vacant 
without  even  the  knowledge  of  the  agent.  The  decision 
of  our  Supreme  Court  in  this  case  was  that  the  Valued 
Policy  Law  waived  all  of  the  material  conditions 
of  the  policy  except  fraud  and  arson. 

The  State  of  Wisconsin  gave  to  the  world  the  first 
Valued  Policy  Law  and  the  results  of  its  operations  in 
that  and  other  states  will  be  of  interest. 

Wisconsin 

Average      Loss 
Losses  as  to  risks  rate        Ratio 

1873  to  1877  inc.  before  5  yrs.— 6.96*         1.32         52.6 
1877  to  1885  inc.  after  5  yrs.— 6.87  1.14         60.2 

*Oshkosh  fire. 

Ohio 

1876  to  1880  inc.  before  5  yrs.— 4.79  1.12         42.8 

1881  to  1885  inc.  after  5  yrs.— 6.88  1.14         60.4 

1886  to  1890  inc.  after  5  yrs.— 6.75  1.10         59.6 

57 


Illinois 

Average      Loss 
Losses  as  to  risks  Rate       Ratio 

1881  to  1885  inc.  4.36  1.08         40.5 

Delaware,  Ohio,  Wisconsin  and  Missouri 

1880  to  1890  inc.        10  yrs.— 7.45  1.24         61.9 

1891   to  1900  inc.        10  yrs.— 7.00  L18         59.0 

New  York,  Conn.  Mass.,  N.  J.,  R.  L,  Penna.  and  111. 

1880  to  1890  inc.        10  yrs— 4.55  .78         55.7 

1891   to  1900  inc.         10  yrs— 4.81  .84         55.7 

If,  in  our  schedules  for  estimating  rates,  a  proper 
charge  could  be  added  for  the  Valued  Policy  Law  or  if 
the  Legislature  of  this  state  would  impose  a  tax  on  the 
policy  holders  equal  to  the  sum  paid  yearly  for  the  losses 
directly  attributable  to  this  law,  there  would  be  a  com- 
motion resulting  which  would  insure  Its  immediate  and 
unconditional  repeal. 

The  Governors  and  the  Insurance  Commissioners  of 
the  several  states  having  Valued  Policy  Laws,  including 
Ohio,  have  referred  to  them  in  their  reports  as  being 
vicious  in  their  operations — as  offering  temptation  to 
the  criminally  inclined — as  largely  increasing  the  fire 
waste  of  the  country  and  for  these  reasons  they  have 
strongly  urged  their  repeal.  Some  of  our  ablest  Amer- 
ican writers  on  Sociology  have  denounced  such  laws  as 
unjust,  iniquitous  and  contributory  to  crime,  and  why 
they  have  not  been  repealed  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to 
determine. 

In  October,  1871  occurred  that  historic  conflagration 
which  burned  out  the  heart  of  the  City  of  Chicago.     At 

58 


that  time  the  weather  was  warm,  the  whole  country  was 
suffering  from  a  severe  drought,  the  winds  were  high, 
and  conditions  appeared  to  be  specially  favorable  for 
frequent  and  disastrous  fires;  but  for  twelve  months 
thereafter  this  whole  country  of  ours  was  practically 
exempt  from  serious  losses. 

A  number  of  years  ago  the  Ohio  Farmers  Insurance 
Company  was  obliged  to  close  its  doors  on  account  of  its 
excessive  losses.  Within  a  few  days  thereafter  prac- 
tically every  policy  holder  in  that  corporation  knew  that 
something  had  happened  to  that  popular  company,  and 
what  was  the  result?  The  losses  immediately  dropped 
off  and  were  so  insignificant  that  in  twelve  months 
thereafter,  with  this  relief  and  with  the  decrease  of  its 
liabilities  by  the  expirations  of  its  policies,  the  Company 
was  enabled  to  resume  business  without  paying  in  a  dol- 
lar and  even  on  a  stronger  and  better  basis  than  before: 
a  sad  comment  it  would  seem  on  the  moral  character  of 
our  citizenship.  Were  these  merely  the  results  of  some 
natural  and  beneficent  law  designed  to  temper  the  winds 
to  the  shorn  lambs?  I  hardly  think  this  can  be  claimed. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  stock  companies  writing 
farm  insurance  in  Ohio  have  found  it  to  be  both  unsatis- 
factory and  unprofitable.  With  all  the  precautions  they 
have  been  able  to  take — with  all  the  care  they  have  been 
able  to  exercise  in  the  selection  of  risks,  our  little  town- 
ship Mutuals,  with  neither  capital,  ability  nor  experi- 
ence, have  been  writing  this  business,  (limiting  their  lia- 
bility to  not  exceeding  75%  of  the  value)  at  about  one 
half  what  it  has  cost  the  stock  companies.  To  the 
student  of  such  economic  subjects,  the  question  may 
arise,  are  not  these  results  to  some  extent,  attributable 
to  our  Valued  Policy  Law? 

There  is  no  business  more  honorable  than  Fire  Insur- 


59 


aiicc;  none  more  essential  to  the  prosperity  and  stability 
of  our  commerce,  to  our  institutions,  enterprises  and 
society.  This  question  we  are  now  considering  is  not  a 
commercial  one  merely,  but  should  be  one  of  patriotism 
and  i^ood  citizenship.  No  state,  no  city,  no  community 
can  conduct  its  business  or  its  government  under  unjust 
laws  without  sooner  or  later  paying  the  penalty,  and 
every  insured  person  in  our  state,  in  the  payment  of 
determined  premiums  for  fire  insurance,  contributes  an 
undetermined  amount  as  a  penalty  to  this  law.  As  we 
sow,  so  shall  we  reap. 

Insurance  Trust 

To  the  average  American  patriot  the  words  trust, 
combination  and  monopoly  are  synonymous  terms,  and 
he  is  unqualifiedly  opposed  to  all  trades  and  business 
that  can  be  so  classed  unless  he  is  a  sharer  in  the  usu- 
fruct. Take  any  number  of  our  noble  Romans  whose 
chief  occupations  are  to  hold  down  the  benches  in  our 
parks  during  the  summer  and  patronize  our  charitable 
institutions  during  the  winter,  and  there  will  be  found  a 
remarkable  unanimity  of  opinion  among  them  that  fire 
insurance  companies  are  all  in  the  grip  of  either  one  or 
all  of  these. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  such  mistaken  beliefs  have 
spread  to  and  taken  root  with  the  public  and  in  some 
instances  with  our  Courts  and  Legislatures.  The  fact 
that  the  companies,  through  such  limited  combinatons 
as  they  have  been  premitted  to  make,  have  reduced  the 
cost  of  insurance — introduced  fire  prevention  methods 
— encouraged  material  improvements  in  fire  fighting 
appliances  and  rendered  incalculable  service  in  the  con- 
servation of  our  national  wealth  and  resources,  should  be 
more  generally  known. 


60 


The  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  through 
which  we  can  reach  almost  every  city,  town  and  village 
in  the  country,  was  organized  by  the  absorption  of  forty 
small  independent  concerns.  Combinations  among  our 
railroads  have  brought  about  changes  that  seem  marvel- 
ous when  comparisons  are  made.  Instead  of  being  com- 
pelled to  change  cars  at  the  ends  of  a  dozen  or  more 
separate  divisions,  the  passenger  can  now  board  a  train 
in  New  York  and  without  interruptions  journey  across 
our  continent  with  ease  and  with  all  the  comforts  of  a 
home. 

The  Standard  Oil  Company,  with  all  the  opposition 
it  has  encountered,  has  rendered  an  unappreciated  ser- 
vice to  the  American  people  and  to  the  world  in  the 
improvements  of  its  methods  and  in  the  reduced  costs 
of  its  main  and  by-products. 

The  early  building  of  railroads  was  viewed  with  sus- 
picion and  apprehension.  It  was  argued  that  they  would 
cheapen  all  farm  products  and  that  horses  would  be 
useful  for  domestic  uses  only.  The  introduction  of 
the  sewing  machine  was  to  be  the  death  blow  to  the 
occupation  of  the  seamstress.  The  foresight  of  our 
forbears  was  evidently  not  as  clear  as  the  hindsight  of 
their  successors  in  these  instances,  but  it  may  be  unbe- 
coming in  us  to  get  puffed  up  with  our  achievements, 
lest  those  who  come  after  us,  will  also  marvel  at  our 
stupidity  and  narrowness  of  vision.  So,  after  all  we 
may  say — after  all  we  may  have  done,  "there's  a  Divin- 
ity that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  as  we  will." 

State  Boards  and  Clubs 

The  first  general  meeting  of  Ohio  Field  men  was  held 
in  the  Phillips  House,  Dayton,  in  1871,  when  it  was 

61 


decided  to  form  an  organization  to  be  known  as  the  Ohio 
State  Board,  and  with  the  view  of  securing  co-operation 
amonK  the  companies  for  better  practices  in  underwrit- 
iiij;  and  the  ol)servance  of  estabhshed  rules  and  rates. 

Duriii.u  the  following  year,  1872,  the  Ohio  State  Board 
was  fulh  organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Reed, 
IVesident,  Mr.  C.  E.  Bliven,  Secretary,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  special  committees  assigned  to  specific  duties 
in  the  districts  assigned  them,  each  charter  member 
signing  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws,  pledging  his 
honor  and  good  faith  for  a  strict  observance  of  good 
practices. 

While  not  "soothed  by  an  unfaltering  trust,"  this 
organization  held  together,  did  much  to  improve  the 
general  conditions  in  our  State  and  opened  the  way  to 
wider  fields  of  operations  and  usefulness.  Not  long 
after  this  Board  was  organized  a  tri-state  meeting  was 
held  at  the  Boody  House  in  Toledo  which  was  attended 
by  company  representatives  from  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Michigan.  A  similar  meeting  for  the  three  States  was 
held  at  Detroit  about  a  year  thereafter.  From  the  seed 
planted  at  Dayton  in  1871  and  1872,  grew  the  Fire 
Underwriters  Association  of  the  Northwest — the  largest 
organization  of  this  kind  in  the  world. 

The  following  named  State  and  Special  Agents  con- 
stituted the  original  Ohio  State  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers: 

Geo.  W.  Adams  Tiffin,  Ohio 

J.  H.  Beattie  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

A.  C.  Blodgett  Detroit,  Mich. 

Chas.  E.  Bliven  Toledo,  Ohio 

L.  J.  Bonar  Mansfield,  Ohio 

Andrew  Gardner  Columbus,  Ohio 

J-  B.  Hall  Columbus,  Ohio 

62 


W.  p.  Harford  Morrow,  Ohio 

H.  K.  Lindsey  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

C.  W.  Marshall  Urbana,  Ohio 

Jacob  Peetrey  London,  Ohio 

J.  S.  Reed  Marion.  Ohio 

John  T.  Shepard  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Geo.  K.  Snider  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

John  P.  Vance  Mansfield,  Ohio 

A.  J.  Waters  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Geo.  M.  Winwood  Springfield,  Ohio 

During  the  greater  portion  of  the  next  succeeding  25 
years,  with  a  few  intervals  our  field  organization  was 
maintained  in  Ohio,  but  the  attitude  of  our  Legislators, 
our  Courts  and  the  public,  became  so  antagonistic  that 
membership  in  such  organizations  was  threatened  and 
endangered  with  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  in  view  of 
such  existing  conditions  our  State  Board,  as  a  matter  of 
precaution,  and  under  instructions  from  the  Companies, 
was  disbanded 

In  1902,  I  assumed  the  responsibility  of  calling  a 
meeting  of  the  state  and  special  agents,  traveling  in 
Ohio,  at  the  Southern  Hotel,  Columbus,  which  call  was 
met  with  a  very  gratifying  response.  The  common 
sentiment  largely  prevailed  that  a  State  organization 
was  at  that  time  especially  desirable  and  that  one  should 
be  formed.  Practically  the  only  question  to  come  up 
for  discussion  was  whether  there  should  be  one  organ- 
ization only,  including  all  Stock  Companies  or  whether 
there  should  be  two — one  composed  of  the  representa- 
tives of  Union  and  the  other  of  Bureau  Companies. 
After  a  free,  frank  and  friendly  discussion,  continuing 
throughout  the  day,  it  was  decided  that  the  common 
interests  of  the  companies  could  be  better  served  by 
having  two  separate  and  distinct    organizations,   and 

63 


that  occasion  marks  the  natal  day  of  our  present  Ohio 
Field  ("liil). 

Presidents  of  the  Ohio  Field  Club 


A.  G.  Sanderson 

1902-3 

H.  J.  Shreffler 

1904 

Geo.  M.  Winwood 

1905 

C.  T.  Deatrick 

1906 

C.  B.  Corry 

1907 

Geo.  H.  Bell] 
Al.  L.  Ross   J 

1908 

Wm.  H.  Clemons 

1909 

L.  A.  Lent            ] 
Wm.  C.  Daniels  j 

1910 

B.  T.  Duffey 

1911 

Cyrus  Woodbury 

1912 

R.  T.  Huggard 

1913 

Wm.  So  wards 

1914 

J.  A.  Cloud 

1915 

L.  J.  Bonar 

1916 

A.  M.  Cole 

1917 

John  H.  Gray 

1918 

C.  E.  Monroe 

1919 

F.  M.  Ransom 

1920 

Sometime  after  this  general  meeting  at  the  Southern 
Hotel  at  Columbus,  the  state  and  special  agents  of  the 
Bureau  companies  or  what  were  then  known  as  the 
non-union  companies,  organized  a  State  Association, 
which  has  maintained  a  continuous  existence  up  to  the 
present  time,  and  it  has  been  an  important  factor  in  the 
uplift  and  betterment  of  the  business.  The  relations 
between  the  two  organizations  have  been  friendly  and 
helpful  to  each  other. 


64 


The  following  named  officers  have  served  this  organi- 
ization : 

Secretary 
Chas.  L.  Hecox 
Chas.  L.  Hecox 
A.  F.  McCormick 
A.  F.  McCormick 
N.  T.  Julian 
N.  T.  Julian 
Lester  E.  Gate 
D.  C.  Morgan 
D.  C.  Morgan 

D.  C.  Morgan 
Rodney  Wiley 

r  Rodney  Wiley 
U.M.  Norris 
Ij.  M.  Norris 
J.  M.  Norris 

E.  A.  Flickner 


Year 

President 

1904 

I.  W.  Canfield 

1905 

G.  Welton  Steeb 

1906 

H.  W.  Glayton 

1907 

H.  W.  Glayton 

1908-9 

H.  E.  Boning 

1909-10 

L.  F.  Greamer 

1911 

John  E.  Smith 

1912 

N.  T.  Julian 

1913 

N.  T.  Julian 

1914 

N.  T.  Julian 

1915 

H.  E.  Boning 

1916 

W.  G.  Shannon 

1917 

Geo.  T.  Wilson 

1917-18 

W.  T.  Eaton 

1920 

E.  A.  Pabody 

Put-In-Bay 

In  July  1905  there  was  held  an  important  meeting  at 
Put-in-Bay,  Ohio,  under  the  name  of  the  "Tri-State  and 
Mid-summer  Symposium"  which  was  attended  by  the 
Field  men  and  members  of  their  families  from  Ohio, 
West  Virginia  and  Michigan.  The  business  features 
for  this  gathering  were  arranged  as  follows : 

West  Virginia  Association      A.  G.  Sanderson,  Presiding 
Michigan  Glub  W.  P.  Robertson,  Presiding 

Michigan  P.  P.  Association  N.  P.  Jones,  Presiding 

Ohio  League  G.  Velton  Steeb,  Presiding 

Ohio  Field  Glub  Geo.  M.  Winwood,  Presiding 


65 


An  elaborate  program  had  been  prepared  by  a  special 
committee  appointed  for  this  purpose  and  the  exer- 
cises— both  business  and  social — were  intended  to  in- 
clude three  days  and  as  many  nights. 

Ohio  Men — Presidents  of  the  Northwestern 
Association 

C.W.Marshall  President  1875 

Major  C.  E.  Bliven  President  1877 

Geo.  W.Adams  President  1879 

C.  T.  Deatrick  President  1910 


Ohio  Insurance  Exchange 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1899,  a  called  meeting  of  State  and 
Special  Agents,  representing  Stock  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
panies was  held  at  9:30  at  the  Hollenden  Hotel,  Cleve- 
land, for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  State  organization, 
when  there  were  46  such  persons  present.  Mr.  J.  O. 
Dye  was  chosen  temporary  Chairman  and  Mr.  S.  W. 
Rice,  temporary  Secretary. 

A  general  discussion  and  a  free  exchange  of  opinions 
clearly  indicated  that  the  conditions  of  the  Fire  Insur- 
ance business  in  Ohio  demanded  such  co-operation  as 
could  be  secured  only  through  a  state  organization.  A 
committee  of  six,  Messrs.  Woodbury,  Weinland,  Dye, 
Canfield,  Rice  and  Corry,  was  appointed  to  draft  plans 
for  an  organization  and  report  at  an  adjourned  meeting 
to  be  held  at  2  o'clock  P.  M.  of  that  day.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  report  made  by  this  committee: 

We,  the  undersigned,  representatives  of  Stock  Fire 
Insurance   Companies,    having   State   jurisdiction,    do 

66 


hereby  associate  ourselves  together  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  for  each  other  such  protection  and  such  mutual 
and  reciprocal  benefits  as  may  be  derived  through  an 
organization  based  upon  confidence  and  honor,  and  to 
secure  through  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  such  laws 
governing  the  construction  and  improvements  of  build- 
ings as  will  materially  reduce  the  fire  waste:  but  this 
Association  shall  in  no  wise  or  no  event  use  its  offices  for 
the  making  of  free  and  open  competition  thereof. 

The  Association  shall  be  known  as  "The  Ohio  Insur- 
ance Exchange,"  and  its  members  shall  be  composed 
only  of  such  persons  as  are  in  the  employ  of  Stock  Fire 
Insurance  Companies  (either  as  State  or  Special  Agents) 
doing  an  agency  business  throughout  the  State,  and 
not  paying  commissions  in  excess  of  those  permitted  by 
the  rules  of  the  Western  Insurance  Union. 

We  agree  to  co-operate  with  each  other,  honestly  and 
faithfully,  to  the  best  of  our  abilities,  in  the  enforcement 
of  good  practices  for  the  elevation  of  the  standard  of 
our  profession,  in  the  cultivation  of  friendly  relations 
among  ourselves  and  agents  in  this  State,  in  the  correc- 
tion of  bad  practices  among  agents,  and  in  furnishing 
each  other  with  all  information  coming  to  our  knowledge 
that  may  be  important,  concerning  any  agent  or  relating 
to  risks. 

The  Association  shall  be  organized  by  the  election  of 
a  President,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  an  Executive 
Committee  in  manner  to  be  provided  in  the  By-Laws, 

The  undersigned  pledge  their  faithful  adherence  to 
the  above  and  to  the  following  By-Laws  already  enacted 
and  to  all  Rules  and  By-Laws  which  may  be  hereafter 
enacted. 

One  of  the  purposes  of  the  organization  was  to  furnish 
to  members   information  of  a  private  nature  relative 

67 


to  undesirable  risks,  fraudulent  claims,  unprofessional 
practices  on  the  part  of  local  agents,  etc.,  and  all  such 
correspondence  was  to  be  conducted  by  numbers — 
each  member  being  assigned  a  special  number  for 
this  purpose. 

Many  of  the  members  took  an  active  interest  in  this 
organization  and  contributed  much  information  of  value 
to  the  general  business.  Fears  expressed  by  some  of 
the  companies  that  our  methods  might  lead  them  into 
trouble  with  the  Courts  and  also  our  Insurance  Depart- 
ment, and  their  criticisms  that  we  were  working  under 
plans  not  unlike  those  of  another  Insurance  organization 
were  offered  and  accepted  as  sufficient  reasons  to  dis- 
band. 

Competition 

The  competition  between  what  w^re  known  as  Board 
and  Non-Board  Companies  was  sharp,  unscrupulous 
and  on  the  part  of  some  was  disreputable.  The  bitter 
animosities  existing  between  the  Field  Representatives 
of  these  two  classes  of  companies  were  rarely  concealed 
when  they  came  together,  in  their  business  pursuits. 
The  following  effusion  written  by  a  special  agent  of  a 
Board  Company,  which  was  printed  and  circulated  at 
that  time,  will  furnish  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the  conditions: 

Carol  of  the  Non- Boarders 

"Gobble  them  here,  and  gobble  them  there. 
Gobble  the  premiums  everywhere," 
Is  the  war-whoop  of  the  non-Boardaire. 
As  the  President  sits  in  his  easy  chair. 
He  tells  his  agents  to  slash  and  tear, 

68 


To  cut  the  rates  as  much  as  they'll  bear, 

Or  a  little  more  too;  if  it  don't  mattaire. 

If  you  happen  to  shade  them  just  a  hair 

Below  the  mark,  for  it  wont  impair 

A  capital  when  it  isn't  there, 

Except  in  notes  that  are  worth  nae  maire 

Than  a  cent  a  pound  for  old  papaire; 

But  should  you  look  at  the  President's  chair, 

Perhaps  you  may  see  the  ass-sets  there. 

Those  companies  that  have  stood  the  wear 

That  terrible  conflagration  bear 

Upon  their  surplus,  earned  with  care, 

Are  so  "old  fogy,"  they  do  not  dare. 

After  paying  losses  fair  and  square 

And  dropping  rates  to  the  bottom  stair, 

To  write  at  half  the  regular  fare; 

And  this,  my  friends,  you  see  is  where 

'Tis  best  to  insure  in  the  non-Boardaire. 

To  be  sure  we  "busted"  into  air. 

When  Chicago  burned  with  lurid  glare. 

And  again  when  Boston  had  her  flare. 

Our  policy  holders  "weren't  nowhere." 

But  this  is  neither  here  nor  there. 

For  we  wrote  their  risks  at  quarter  fare, 

And  you  couldn't  expect  in  reason  sair. 

After  skinning  rates  of  hide  and  hair, 

And  doubling  commissions,  that  we  could  spare, 

To  the  burnt-out  wretched  "nothing  to  wear," 

Any  more  than  a  kind  of  a  nominal  share 

Of  our  "honest"  capital,  that  nevaire 

Was  an  honest  capital:     Yet,  I'll  swear, 

There  isn't  a  Company  anywhere, 

With  such  splendid  policies  on  repaire, 

Tinted  and  gilded  in  style  so  rare. 


69 


With  great  expense  and  marvellous  care. 
So  trot  up  your  horses,  or  trot  up  your  mare, 
If  you  wish  to  insure,  I'll  answer  your  prayer, 
Name  your  own  rates,  good  people,  I'm  there; 
Come  and  insure  in  my  non-Boardaire. 

This  was  followed  by  another  poem,  written  by 
another  special  agent,  and  which  attained  a  pretty  wide 
circulation. 

The  Death  of  the  Bangor 

Tie  this  wildcat's  feet  in  crosses, 
Fold  its  smooth  and  velvet  ears. 
Cutting  rates  and  frequent  losses 
Laid  out  in  just  two  years. 
Luckless  feline,  on  my  breast. 
Curl  thy  tail  and  take  thy  rest. 
Then  go  and  seek  the  Andes. 

The  Boston  feline,  called  Alliance, 
The  Royal  Canadian — The  Defiance, 
And  others  of  that  class  are  quaking. 
And  in  their  boots  with  fear  are  shaking, 
They're  trembling  at  this  noise  and  thunder, 
For  soon  Old  Satan  will  take  them  under. 
And  show  them  the  Cincinnati  Home. 

When  the  Bangor  lay  on  its  dying  bed, 
Ere  breathing  its  last  it  raised  its  head, 
And  these  are  the  very  last  words  it  said : 
"Oh  carry  me  back  to  the  home  of  the  Blaine, 
To  the  forests  wild  in  the  state  of  Maine, 
There  bury  me  deep  'neath  her  rocky  breast. 
And  in  dark  oblivion  let  me  rest. 


70 


From  the  outside  world,  O,  shut  me  in, 
"Pull  down  my  vest,  and  'wipe  off  my  chin, 
Then  fold  my  grave  clothes  round  my  corpse 
And  haul  me  away  with  "Death's  pale  horse." 
My  life,  I  know,  is  a  fearful  blank. 
But  that's  no  fault  of  Wallace  or  Frank, 
My  time  is  up — I  am  short  of  breath, 
I'm  now  in  the  cold  embrace  of  death, 
In  order  to  show  that  I  have  fizzled. 
Set  up  a  stone  on  which  is  chiseled, 

Requies-cat." 

Under  the  system  of  doing  business  in  our  country, 
first  comes  the  Company  or  its  Manager — then  the 
Field  Man  and  after  him  the  Local  Agent,  each  with  its 
or  his  specific  duties  to  perform. 

The  work  of  the  Field  Man  is  peculiar  in  the  respect 
that  he  must  necessarily  represent  the  Company  and 
also  the  Local  Agent  and  render  services  to  both,  acting 
in  a  dual  capacity  and  without  the  least  change  in  their 
respective  services  due  to  the  Company.  They  are  both 
part  and  parcel  of  the  system  and  their  relative  positions 
do  not  justify  any  assumption  of  special  authority  or 
ownership  of  the  Company  or  of  each  others  services. 

The  President  or  Manager  of  one  of  these  great  Cor- 
porations never  speaks  of  the  Company  he  represents  as 
his  Company,  or  of  its  local  representatives  as  his 
Agents,  and  where  this  has  been  done  by  the  Field 
Men,  it  has  been  criticized  in  many  cases  and  in  a  few 
instances  has  been  resented  by  the  better  class  of  our 
local  agents. 


71 


John  E.  Smith 

Looking  in  the  aggregate  at  the  field  men  with  whom 
I  have  been  acquainted  and  with  whom  I  have  been 
associated,  is  something  Hke  taking  a  peep  into  a  kaleid- 
oscope. 

All  of  the  distinctive  characters,  all  of  the  controlling 
temperaments  peculiar  or  common  to  human  nature  can 
be  found  among  them.  Had  all  the  good  been  combined 
in  one  man,  it  would  have  made  him  a  saint,  if  all  the 
bad,  he  would  have  been  supremely  bad,  but  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  an  equal  number  of  men  engaged  in 
any  profession  where  the  general  average  would  measure 
up  to  that  of  our  field  men. 

Among  all  of  these,  there  is  one  who  stands  out  prom- 
inently in  the  picture  I  have  before  me — Mr.  John  E. 
Smith,  Special  Agent  of  The  Ohio  Farmers  Insurance 
Co.,  who  was  a  friend  of  and  enjoyed  the  friendship  of 
the  State  and  Special  Agents  in  Ohio.  He  had  a  fine 
command  of  the  English  language — an  extended  vocab- 
ulary, was  a  ready  debater,  and  he  rarely  came  out 
second  best  in  an  argument. 

He  possessed  considerable  wit  and  a  keen  sense  of 
humor.  A  copy  of  a  letter  sent  out  by  him  to  a  field 
man  in  the  State,  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  his  literary  taste 
and  his  cheery  disposition.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
this  letter  and  with  it  a  copy  of  one  of  the  replies: 

Chardon,  Ohio,  November  23,  1901 
To  Members  of  the  Craft : — 

LISTEN  TO  THE  BELLS 
Once  more  love  has  pulled  the  heart  strings  and  from 
the  belfry  of  that  grand  old  Court  where  Cupids  roost 
like  bats  while  they  sw^eeten  their  arrows  with  love  and 

72 


soothe  the  hearts  of  old  and  young  aUke,  we  hear  a  nup- 
tial sound  that  vibrates  like  the  cooing  notes  of  the  dove 
that  sings  in  its  sweet  refrain,  "B-r,  B-r"  and  listening 
we  see  through  the  silvery  mists  of  kindling  love  the 
image  of  that  old  HERO  after  whose  likeness  we  all 
wished  to  be  formed,  he  is  the  admired  of  the  admirers 
and  the  loveliest  of  us  all. 

Loved  for  his  honor,  loved  for  his  worth, 

Loved  for  his  distinction,  loved  for  his  birth. 

Loved  for  his  manhood,  loved  for  his  name. 
Loved  for  his  friendship,  loved  for  his  fame. 

Loved  because  he  is  lovable.  The  Grand  Old  Man 

Oberlin,  Ohio,  November  30,  190L 
John  E.  Smith, 

One  of  'The  Craft." 

Your  fine  letter  makes  me  laugh,  so  I  feel  I  have  the 

honor  to  contribute  to. one  hundred  cents, 

but  oh,  what  pity  its  no  more,  for  one  so  witty  opens 
wide  the  tight  closed  purse,  let  "Old  Miser"  do  his  worst. 

Pardon  me  for  being  so  bold;  Mr.  B.  is  not  old;  ad- 
vanced in  years,  but  young  in  heart,  youth  and  Mr. 
B.  never  part. 

Loved  because  of  sterling  worth 

Not  because  of  place  of  birth. 
Loved  because  all  actions  can 

Show  the  world  the  manly  man. 

I  am  glad  that  Cupid  led  our  dear  friend  to  love  and 
wed,  and  that  sightless  "belfry  bats"  nor  the  pesky 
"Court  House  Rats"  had  a  thing  to  do  or  say  'bout  the 
coming  wedding  day. 

With  esteem  and  love,  I  am. 

Yours  sincerely,  W.  B.  D. 

73 


Retired  Pioneers 

Among  the  pioneers  still  living  are  Mr.  B.  B.  Law,  of 
Bay  City,  Mich.,  Capt.  J.  M.  Wallace  of  Dayton,  Mr. 
G.  M.  Winwood  of  Springfield,  and  Mr.  A.  M.  L.  Was- 
son,  of  Cincinnati. 

These  gentlemen  after  rendering  long  and  valuable 
services  have  been  honorably  retired,  but  they  are  still 
held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Field  Men  who  are  still  active 
in  the  service.  They  assisted  in  blazing  the  way 
through  the  forests — mapping  out  the  roads  for  their 
successors  to  follow  and  are  deserving  of  our  highest 
respect  and  loving  and  grateful  remembrance. 

Ohio  Local  Agents  Association 

The  date  when  the  scheme  of  a  State  Association  of 
Local  Agents  was  conceived  I  will  approximate  as  nearly 
as  possible  by  stating  that  it  was  sometime  in  the  late 
seventies  and  during  that  portion  of  the  year  when 
valiant  housewives  sally  out  into  the  open  country  in 
search  of  succulent  greens. 

Mr.  Timothy  Hay,  a  local  agent  at  Lima,  Ohio,  who 
had  both  a  roving  disposition  and  an  appropriate  rov- 
ing commission  from  our  Company,  conceived  the  idea 
of  a  State  Organization  of  Fire  Insurance  Agents,  and 
his  views  found  expression  in  a  wordy  Proclamation  to 
all  State,  Special  and  Local  Agents,  and  to  other  offi- 
cers of  Companies  in  Ohio,  summoning  them  to  convene 
on  a  certain  named  day  in  the  "hospitable  city  of  Lima, 
Ohio,  and  enjoy  the  well  known  hospitality  of  its  hos- 
pitable citizens  and  its  no  less  hospitable  agents." 

As  a  precautionary  measure  I  secured  in  advance, 
accomodations  for  myself  at  the  Lima  House.     There 


74 


were  no  flags,  no  bunting,  no  visible  decorations  of  any 
kind  indicating  that  it  was  a  momentous  day,  or  that 
anything  of  unusual  interest  was  in  the  air.  The  citi- 
zens seemed  to  be  tramping  the  streets  and  pursuing 
their  common  avocations  in  their  usual  manner.  About 
noon  of  that  day  Mr.  W.  L.  Alexander  of  Canton,  then 
traveling  for  an  accident  company,  put  in  his  appear- 
ance at  the  hotel  and  when  advised  concerning  the  con- 
vention, he  expressed  a  lively  interest  in  it  and  a  desire 
to  attend.  Not  being  eligible  as  a  delegate  under  the 
call,  I  appointed  him,  for  the  occasion,  Special  Agent 
for  the  Pennsylvania  Fire  Insurance  Company,  which  I 
also  represented  at  that  time  and  the  scheme  worked 
out  with  entire  satisfaction — worked  like  a  charm. 

That  we  might  be  fortunate  in  securing  choice  seats 
we  journeyed  early  to  the  hall  where  the  convention  was 
to  be  held  and  where  we  spent  some  time  in  waiting  for 
the  delegates  to  arrive;  and  all  told,  these  consisted  of 
Mr.  Wm.  Heinrich  of  Wapakoneta  and  Mr.  Davies,  a 
local  agent  from  Delphos.  Mr.  Hay  was  voted  into 
the  chair  and  in  a  "few  well  chosen  words"  expressed 
his  appreciation  of  the  compliment  and  stated  the 
objects  and  purposes  of  the  meeting.  Some  unavoid- 
able delay  occured  in  securing  a  Secretary  for  the  meet- 
ing. Each  of  the  half  dozen  Lima  local  agents  present 
were  complimented  with  a  nomination,  but  they  all  had, 
apparently,  pressing  engagements  somewhere  which 
prevented  their  acceptance  of  the  office.  When  the 
list  had  been  exhausted  Mr.  Davies  was  prevailed  upon 
to  serve  as  our  "recording  angel."  After  listening  to  a 
very  interesting  and  instructive  address  on  Adjustments 
by  the  General  Adjuster  for  the  Farmers  Insurance 
Company  of  Jelloway,  Ohio,  the  convention  adjourned 
and  the  promising  child  which  Mr.  Hay  had  so  labor- 

75 


iously  brought  into  the  world,  folded  its  little  infant 
hands  and  passed  on  to  that  bourne  from  which  no  such 
insurance  born  children  return. 

Strange,  but  this  is  true;  on  the  following  morning 
the  sun  came  up  in  splendor  out  of  the  far  east — shone 
brilliantly  throughout  the  day  in  a  blue  sky;  the  birds 
made  the  world  melodious  with  their  music;  the  flowers 
commanded  attention  for  their  beauty  and  made  the 
air  redolent  with  their  fragrance,  and  yet  Timothy 
lived  on,  unmoved  and  undisturbed  by  human  events 
and  failures,  and  continued  to  make  all  of  Northwest- 
ern Ohio  his  insurance  bailiwick. 

The  first  concerted  movement  having  in  view  the 
organization  of  a  State  Association  of  Fire  Insurance 
men  was  in  1907  and  the  project  was  put  on  foot  by 
Mr.  Merwin  Jackson  of  Toledo,  Mr.  F.  C.  McElroy  and 
Mr.  C.  W.  Bryson  of  Columbus,  Ohio.  These  gentlemen 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  calling  a  general  meeting 
which  was  held  at  the  Neil  House,  Columbus,  February 
25th,  1898,  when  there  were  twenty-six  representatives 
present.  A  strong  sentiment  prevailed  among  the  gen- 
tlemen in  attendance  for  the  adoption  of  some  methods 
having  in  view  mutual  aid — the  elevation  of  the  Fire 
Insurance  business  in  Ohio  and  closer  co-operation 
among  the  agents,  and  after  considerable  discussion  it 
was  decided  to  form  a  permanent  organization,  with 
eighteen  charter  members  signing  the  agreement.  The 
following  officers  were  elected: 

President  Merwin  Jackson  of  Toledo 

1st  Vice  President  A.  W.  Neale  of  Cleveland 

2nd  Vice  President      F.  C.  McElroy  of  Columbus 
Secretary  C.  W.  Brvson  of  Columbus 

Treasurer  W.  J.  Eilber  of  Columbus 

Chairman  Executive  Committee 

Thomas  H.  Geer  of  Cleveland 


76 


The  second  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  at 
Put-in-Bay  on  August  25-26,  1898,  when  fifty-five 
representatives  were  present.  While  it  was  commonly 
conceded  that  such  an  association  was  needed  and  could 
be  made  effective  and  accomplish  good  results,  the 
work  did  not  meet  with  the  enthusiastic  support  which 
it  deserved.  Up  to  that  time  what  had  been  accom- 
plished was  due  to  a  few  zealous  members  who  had 
sufficient  vision  to  see  brighter  times  in  store. 

With  the  hope  and  expectation  of  inciting  a  more 
general  and  keener  interest  in  the  work,  a  mid-year 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  Building 
at  Columbus,  March  8-9,  1899,  which  in  point  of  num- 
bers at  least  was  distinctly  encouraging,  there  being 
241  members  present. 

Addresses  were  delivered  during  the  sessions  by 
General  J.  F.  Downing,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  (principal  address) 
and  President  Merwin  Jackson  of  Toledo;  J.  Gano 
Wright,  Cincinnati;  C.  F.  Harding,  Mansfield,  W.  S. 
Mathews,  Supt.  of  Insurance;  J.  W.  Cochran,  Manager 
of  the  Ohio  Inspection  Bureau;  Thomas  E.  Gallagher, 
General  Agent  of  the  Aetna;  R.  E.  Gooch,  Special  Agent 
of  the  L.  &  L.  &  G.,  and  Louis  J.  Rauh  of  Cincinnati. 

Following  the  sessions  of  this  convention  at  Columbus 
there  was  a  common  feeling  that  the  Ohio  Local  Agents 
Association  was  on  a  firm  and  sound  basis — that  its 
success  was  assured  and  it  was  under  the  inspiration  of 
such  sentiment  that  on  February  14th,  1902,  Mr.  A.  P. 
Ross  of  Urbana  was  employed  as  Secretary- Manager 
to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  Association,  organize  Local 
Boards,  etc.  Mr.  Ross  gave  valuable  service  to  the 
Association  until  January  1st,  1906,  when  he  resigned 
his  office  to  accept  the  position  of  Special  Agent  for  the 
Aetna  Insurance  Company.     During  his  administration 

77 


the  Association  reached  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  and 
usefulness.  Up  to  that  time  52  counties  had  been 
organized  as  branch  societies  of  the  State  Association. 
Owing  to  the  lack  of  funds — harassings  on  the  part 
of  our  Courts  and  threatened  legislation,  the  member- 
ship of  the  State  Association  dropped  from  approxi- 
mately 800  to  a  little  over  300.  Meetings  were  held 
each  year  but  with  no  marked  results  until  November, 
1915,  when  a  few  members  who  had  been  serving  in 
official  capacities  and  with  very  little  encouragement, 
decided  to  infuse  a  little  life  into  the  inert  body  and  put 
meat  on  the  dry  bones;  in  other  words  furnish  funds  and 
assume  the  expenses  necessary  to  carry  on  the  work 
and  also  employ  a  Secretary- Manager.  This  work  of 
regeneration  being  left  to  the  Executive  Committee, 
Mr.  E.  A.  Pabody  was  engaged  for  this  important 
duty,  and  within  a  few  months  he  succeeded  in  a  remark- 
able degree  in  securing  members  for  the  State  Associa- 
tion— in  organizing  Local  Boards  w^here  conditions 
seemed  hopeless  and  in  creating  more  harmony  and  a 
better  feeling  among  Local  Agents. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  officers  of 
the  Association  since  its  organization: 
Year         President  Secretary 

1897     Merwin  Jackson     C.  W.  Bryson 

C.  W.  Bryson 

C.  W.  Bryson 

C.  W.  Bryson 

C.  W.  Bryson 
Sec 'y- Manager 

1902  A.  W.  Neale  A.  P.    Ross 

1903  J.  Gano  Wright      A.  P.  Ross 

1904  J.  Gano  Wright      A.  P.  Ross 

1905  F.  M.  Cooke  A.  P.  Ross 


1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 


Merwin  Jackson 
Merwin  Jackson 
A.  W.  Neale 
A.  W.  Neale 


Treasurer 
W.  J.  Eilber 
W.  J.  Eilber 
W.  J.  Eilber 
C.  W.  Bryson 
C.  W.  Bryson 


C.  W.  Bryson 
C.  W.  Bryson 
A.  P.  Ross 
A.  P.  Ross 


78 


1906  F.  E.  Lauderbach  L.  M.  Foster 

1907  F.  E.  Lauderbach  L.  M.  Foster 

1908  J.  S.  Elliott  L.  M.  Foster 

1909  J.  S.  Elliott  L.  M.  Foster 

1910  W.  I.  Keifer  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1911  Philip  Burke  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1912  James  A.  Knapp  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1913  F.  C.  McElroy  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1914  F.  C.  McElroy  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1915  F.  C.  McElroy  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1916  F.  C.  McElroy  Mrs.  S.  C.  Neff 

1917  C.  C.  Corry  E.  A.  Pabody 

1918  C.  C.  Corry  E.  A.  Pabody 

The  association  now  occupies  an  important  position 
in  our  business  and  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  better 
class  of  companies.  It  has  accomplished  much  in  ele- 
vating moral  and  ethic  standards  of  our  business  among 
the  local  agents. 


First  Fire  Engine 

An  early  ancestor  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Goodwin  was  Col. 
John  Fenwick,  who  brought  from  England  to  Charles- 
ton, S.  C.  in  1733  the  first  Fire  Engine  to  our  Amer- 
ican colonies. 

Of  its  size,  construction,  power  and  how  operated 
we  have  no  information.  It  may  have  been  a  very 
crude  affair,  but  it  was  a  step  forward  in  the  path  of 
progress  that  has  brought  into  existence  our  present 
high  grade  Fire  Apparatus. 

In  1734  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  a  Mutual  Company,  among  the  first — if  not  the 
first — organization  of  the  kind  on  our  continent.     In 

79 


the  great  Charleston  fire  of  1734  the  losses  of  this 
Company  aggregated  one  million  dollars  which  obli- 
gations it  was  unable  to  meet.  Mr.  Goodwin  is  in- 
terested in  fire  prevention  work  and  has  served  as 
President  of  our  Association,  as  well  as  on  different 
important  Committees. 

Fire  Departments 

During  the  early  period  of  our  national  history  our 
pioneer  citizens,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  had  provided 
no  means  for  protecting  themselves  against  "losses  by 
fire  on  land,"  and  this  being  the  case  it  devolved  upon 
them  to  provide  protection  and  to  invent  and  put  to  use 
some  practical  methods  for  extinguishing  fires.  The 
following  named  fire  companies  were  organized  for 
this  purpose  in  Philadelphia:  The  Union  in  December 
1736;  the  Fellowship  in  1738;  the  Hand-in-Hand  in 
1742;  the  Heart-in-Hand  in  1743;  the  Friendship  in 
July  1747;  and  the  Hibernia  in  February  1752,  with  an 
aggregate  membership  of  225  members,  employing  7 
engines,  1055  buckets  and  36  ladders. 

At  a  meeting  of  our  State  Board  in  1874,  Mr.  John  P. 
Vance,  State  Agent  of  the  Insurance  Company  of  North 
America,  (under  whom  I  was  then  serving)  was  appoin- 
ted a  Committee  on  Fire  Departments,  with  instructions 
to  report  at  some  later  meeting.  The  preparation  of 
the  necessary  blanks  and  the  classification  of  the  infor- 
mation furnished  was  then  turned  over  to  me  to  for- 
mulate into  a  report.  The  statistics  obtained  were  put 
in  tabulated  form,  giving  the  names  of  the  cities  and 
towns  having  Fire  Departments,  water  works,  lengths 
and  sizes  of  mains,  number  of  hydrants,  feet  of  hose, 
number  of  steam  and  hand  engines,  hook  and  ladder 


80 


companies,  public  cisterns  and  water  supply.  The 
report  was  prepared  and  submitted  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  State  Board,  and  upon  motion  was  approved  and 
ordered  printed.  This  was  the  first  report  of  the  kind 
made  for  the  state,  and  so  far  as  I  know,  was  the  first  in 
the  country.  Requests  for  copies  of  it  were  made  by 
the  insurance  companies  for  office  information  and 
reference,  and  copies  were  sent  by  request  to  a  number 
of  the  Home  offices  of  our  English  companies.  Its 
brevity  and  conciseness  were  its  most  commendable 
features. 

A  large  manufacturing  concern  in  Northeastern  Ohio 
paid  a  rate  of  $1.50  under  a  general  form  of  policy. 
After  equipping  the  plant  with  an  Approved  Automatic 
Sprinkler  System  the  assured  asked  for  a  reduction  in 
the  rate  to  $1.00,  which  they  said  would  be  wholly 
satisfactory.  The  request  was  referred  to  and  was 
refused  by  Local  Board  Commisison  No.  1  and  a  com- 
promise rate  of  $1.25  was  named  and  the  business  went 
to  the  New  England  Mutuals.  We  have  since  learned 
the  value  of  Automatic  Sprinklers. 

This  risk  is  now  being  freely  written  in  stock  com- 
panies at  75  cents  for  three  years. 

Old  Time  Agents 

One  of  the  early  local  agents,  a  typical  old  style 
gentleman,  sedate  and  dignified,  when  issuing  his  first 
policy  (No.  1),  made  the  entry  in  his  register  to  include 
not  only  all  of  the  written  but  also  all  of  the  printed 
portions,  including  the  conditions  and  official  signatures, 
which  covered  one  entire  page  in  his  register.  On 
entering  policy  No.  2,  and  after  he  had  written  probably 
one-half  of  the  printed  conditions  he  wound  up  the  job 
by  writing — "For  further  particulars  see  policy  No.  1." 


81 


There  were  no  printed  policy  forms — no  printed 
blanks  of  any  kind  except  policies.  Apportionment 
sheets  and  schedule  paper,  when  needed,  were  ruled  by 
hand;  policies  were  written  with  pen  and  ink,  which 
often  was  a  long,  tedious  task. 

The  rules  of  the  companies  relative  to  agency  reports 
were  not  uniform.  The  local  agents  were  commonly 
required  to  make  up  and  send  in  a  transcript  of  their 
business  with  the  close  of  each  month,  while  others 
rendered  similar  statements  quarterly  or  at  the  end  of 
every  three  months,  but  under  both  plans  a  remittance 
accompanying  the  report,  to  balance  the  account,  was  a 
requirement  that  had  to  be  complied  with.  The  45 
days  limit  rule  for  paying  balances  was  not  in  operation 
by  the  companies,  and  the  Special  Agents  were  not 
troubled  with  their  collection.  A  failure  of  any  agent  to 
make  up  and  forward  his  account,  enclosing  a  remit- 
tance to  balance,  within  five  days  after  due,  was  equiv- 
alent to  dishonoring  a  draft  or  permitting  his  check 
to  go  to  protest. 

State  and  Special  Agents  while  traveling  usually 
carried  with  them  their  own  plain  or  patent  ink  stands, 
ink,  pens  and  pencils.  A  few  of  them,  in  order  to 
provide  themselves  with  sufficient  artificial  light  in  their 
rooms,  carried  pinchers  and  gas  burners  with  which  they 
could  adjust  and  increase  the  light  for  reading  and  for 
clerical  work. 

After  confirming  an  agency  transfer  from  a  successful 
business  man  to  a  promising  young  attorney,  who  was 
afterwards  County  Prosecutor,  Common  Pleas  Judge 
and  a  Member  of  our  Ohio  Legislature,  the  Company 
was  notified  by  the  new  appointee  of  his  inability  to 
serve  as  its  agent,  and  for  the  reason  that  he  had  never 
made  a  study  of  Surveying — that  this  had  not  been 


82 


made  a  part  of  his  college  curriculum — that  he  did  not 
own  a  set  of  surveyors'  instruments,  and  furthermore 
that  a  commission  of  10  per  cent,  would  not  justify  the 
expense  of  the  purchase  of  one.  As  a  compromise, 
however,  he  suggested  to  the  Company  that  in  case  it 
would  furnish  him  with  a  full  and  complete  outfit, 
including  a  book  of  instructions,  free  of  cost,  he  might  be 
prevailed  upon  to  act  as  its  agent;  otherwise  he  would 
have  to  decline.  The  heartless  corporation  accepted 
his  resignation. 

Few,  if  any,  Ohio  local  agents  were  in  the  business 
continuously  for  so  many  years  as  was  Mr.  J.  F.  Deat- 
rick,  of  Defiance,  Ohio.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had 
passed  by  some  years  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his 
connection  with  the  Phoenix  of  Hartford,  which  fact  was 
gracefully  and  beautifully  recognized  by  this  Company. 
He  was  honored  with  the  Mayorship  of  the  city  and 
other  municipal  ofiices.  He  succeeded  in  building  up 
one  of  the  largest  and  strongest  agencies  in  North- 
western Ohio  outside  of  Toledo. 

A  son,  Mr.  C.  T.  Deatrick  of  Columbus  is  the  honor- 
ed State  Agent  for  the  Home  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York. 

There  seems  to  be  some  peculiar  ozone  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  Northwestern  Ohio  conducive  to  longevity  in 
the  lives  of  Insurance  men.  Mr.  Calvin  Barker  of  Toledo 
started  in  business  in  New  York  in  1850,  and  after  a 
continuous  service  of  42  years  as  agent  at  Toledo  is  still 
able  to  play  the  part  of  Drum  Major  at  the  head  of  the 
procession  circling  around  his  90th  milestone,  and  with 
vigor  and  buoyancy. 


83 


Insurance  Blanks 

The  first  blank  proof  of  loss  appeared  in  1861,  but  by 
whom  it  was  gotten  out  is  not  known.  Hines  Book  of 
Instructions  containing  tables  and  the  different  rules  for 
apportioning  losses  and  also  a  copy  of  an  Insurance 
Digest  giving  the  decisions  of  the  Courts  on  the  various 
policy  conditions  were  regarded  as  indispensable  to  the 
work  of  the  Field  man. 

The  Application  Blank  came  into  use  with  the  Insur- 
ance Policy  and  all  such  contracts  for  indemnity  were 
not  only  based  upon  the  representations  made  in  the 
application  but  it  was  referred  to  and  made  a  part  of  the 
contract. 

Who  invented  and  introduced  the  Daily  Report  for 
the  use  of  the  Local  Agent  has  never  been  definitely 
determined.  Sometime  during  the  late  sixties,  Gen. 
Agent  Downing,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  and  Gen.  Agent  Stoddard 
of  New  York  furnished  their  agents,  and  practically  at 
the  same  time,  with  blank  Daily  Reports.  After  a 
friendly  controversy  extending  over  a  number  of  years, 
neither  of  these  gentlemen  could  concede  to  the  other 
the  credit  of  inventing  and  introducing  this  universally 
used  blank.  A  copyright  would  have  determined  the 
priority  of  this  invention. 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  his  appointment  in  1864  as 
General  Agent  for  the  Western  Department  with  head- 
quarters at  Erie,  Pa.  (which  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1913  included  22  states,)  Mr.  J.  F.  Downing  visited 
and  established  agencies  in  Cleveland,  Mansfield,  New- 
ark, Sandusky  and  Toledo  and  these  were  indexed  No. 
1,  2,  3,  4  and  5.  At  Cleveland  he  issued  the  first  three 
Policies,  entered  the  same  on  the  Agency  register  and 
made  up  the  account  current,  crediting  the  agent  with 
10%  commission. 


84 


One  of  these  risks  was  on  the  books  of  the  Company 
for  more  than  forty  years. 

Mr.  Downing  was  the  first  President  of  the  Western 
Union. 

He  was  the  first  Manager  for  the  Pennsylvania  Fire 
Insurance  Company  in  its  Western  Department,  and 
when  the  Company  removed  its  offices  from  Erie,  Pa. 
to  Chicago,  Mr.  Downing  was  made  manager  of  the 
Philadelphia  Underwriters  which  he  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  organizing.  He  gave  some  time  and  atten- 
tion to  politics.  He  introduced  Mr.  Jas.  G.  Blaine  to  an 
Erie  audience  while  on  his  speaking  tour  through  the 
West  during  his  Presidential  Campaign. 

Resuscitated 

One  day  there  came  in  my  mail  from  the  Company, 
three  daily  reports — one  cash  account  and  a  check  for 
the  sum  of  $35.00  to  balance — all  signed  by  Mark  M. 
as  our  agent  at  D.  A  letter  of  inquiry  accompanied 
these,  asking  me  to  explain  when  and  by  whom  this 
party  had  been  appointed,  and  stating  that  they  had  no 
records  of  any  kind  in  the  general  office,  showing  such  an 
appointment. 

Not  many  days  intervened  before  I  made  a  visit 
to  D — ,  where  I  found  Mr.  M — ,  an  old  and  respected 
citizen  and  a  prominent  druggist.  After  a  little  gen- 
eral conversation  and  without  any  apparent  hesitation, 
he  handed  me  our  register  and  blank  policies,  from 
which  it  appeared  that  he  had  been  acting  as  our 
representative  there  for  more  than  five  years,  but 
when  and  by  whom  he  was  appointed  he  could  give 
me  no  information. 


85 


From  his  register  I  made  up  an  account,  which  indi- 
cated that  he  owed  the  Company  $609.00,  and  for  which 
sum  he  gave  his  note,  without  protest  or  objection, which 
was  discounted  at  a  local  bank  as  I  had  previously 
arranged  for.  Expressing  my  appreciation  to  Mr.  M., 
for  his  faithful  service  and  the  fact  his  business  showed 
profit,  I  thought  best  to  relieve  him  of  the  agency  and 
returned  the  supplies  to  our  general  office. 

All  the  policies  he  had  issued  (with  the  exception  of 
the  three  mentioned)  had  expired.  Just  why,  after  a 
lapse  of  five  years,  and  such  failure  to  report  to  us,  he 
should  send  in  these  three  daily  reports,  with  his  account 
and  check  to  balance  is  one  of  those  mysterious  workings 
of  the  human  mind  that  I  have  never  been  able  to 
account  for. 

Unlike  the  immortal  Rip  Van  Winkle  this  Agent  had 
not  slept  continuously  during  his  long  period  of  silence, 
but  from  some  unknown  causes  he  suddenly  became 
conscious  of  his  duties  and  obligations  to  the  Company. 
Possibly  this  was  with  him  "a  change  of  heart." 

Riley  Waters  was  the  degenerate  son  of  a  worthy 
sire.  The  good  reputation  of  his  family  had  secured  for 
himself  the  agency  of  our  Company.  In  Alarch  188- 
he  conceived  a  new  and  novel  idea  for  adding  a  little 
filthy  lucre  to  his  limited  income. 

The  last  policy  on  our  Register  was  No.  318.  Skip- 
ping a  few  of  the  blanks  he  had  on  hand  he  took  out  and 
issued  No.  326  for  $10,000,  premium  $100.00,  covering 
on  a  general  stock  of  merchandise  at  C-D,  in  which  the 
word  March  was  abbreviated  to  Mar. 

When  visiting  that  agency  in  the  following  June,  I 
found  that  our  representative  had  gone  on  a  K.  of  P. 
excursion  to  Cleveland,  and  having  nothing  special  to 
do  I  decided  to  inspect  this  risk.  The  insured  was  a 
respectable  and  prosperous  German  Merchant. 


86 


While  examining  his  pohcy  I  discovered  that  the 
abbreviation  Mar.,  had,  by  making  a  Httle  tail  to  the  r 
been  changed  to  May,  which  the  assured  had  consented 
to,  under  some  representations  made  by  the  agent  and 
to  whom  he  paid  the  premium  for  fourteen  months, 
while  the  agent  accounted  to  us  for  twelve,  thereby 
pocketing  $16.67. 

On  the  following  morning,  Riley  appeared  on  the 
scene,  drunk  as  a  lord.  Getting  him  into  a  room  in  the 
hotel  and  on  a  bed  between  two  windows  with  the  sum- 
mer breezes  blowing  over  him,  he  became  sufficiently 
recovered  from  his  debauch  by  afternoon  that  I  could 
confront  him  with  this  fraud. 

Sometime  between  sundown  and  sunrise  of  that  night 
he  disappeared  and  has  never  since  been  heard  from. 
Following  up  my  investigations  I  discovered  that  he 
had  issued  a  number  of  policies  which  appeared  on  the 
Register  as  covering  for  small  amounts  on  desirable 
dwellings  and  contents,  for  all  of  which  he  accounted 
and  paid,  but  after  a  number  of  days  of  search,  inquiry 
and  advertising,  I  discovered  that  a  number  of  these 
policies  covered  in  large  sums  upon  County  properties, 
special  hazards,  etc.,  with  large  premiums,  and  a  revis- 
ion of  his  accounts  showed  that  we  had  been  robbed  of 
over  $600.00  by  this  scheme. 

His  brother,  a  most  estimable  man  and  a  County 
Official,  was  given  a  full  statement  of  my  findings.  He 
paid  me  the  difference  and  I  appointed  him  agent  to 
succeed  this  erring  brother. 

Solicitors 

Solicitors  can  be  classed  under  the  heads,  good,  bad 
and  indifferent,  but  taking  them  as  a  whole  they  have 
proven  themselves  to  be  unprofitable  servants.     Many 

87 


of  them  have  but  little  regard  for  the  ethics  of  the  pro- 
fession, have  but  little  knowledge  of  the  requirements 
of  the  business  and  are  careless,  having  no  direct  respon- 
sibilities. Their  only  concern  is  what  they  get  out  of  it. 
Their  anxiety  ends  with  the  acceptance  of  their  offerings. 
Many  of  them  are  adepts  in  pointing  out  the  good  and 
overlooking  the  bad  features  of  a  risk.  With  such, 
their  business  is  always  profitable — all  receipts  and  no 
losses. 

Mr.  Jacob  H —  had  been  a  phenominal  solicitor  for 
one  of  our  large  American  companies  but  for  reasons 
that  seemed  to  be  good,  he  was  seeking  another  agency 
connection  and  upon  his  representations  I  gave  him  a 
territory  to  work.  Within  a  short  time  he  had  five 
dwellings  to  his  credit  and  in  less  than  a  year  we  had 
two  of  these  to  pay  for.  Reminding  him  of  his  previous 
statements  to  me  and  indicating  my  disappointment, 
he  replied  by  saying:  "Why,  you  have  nothing  to  com- 
plain of,  I  gave  you  five  dwellings  and  you  still  have 
three  of  these  left  and  you  certainly  have  nothing  to 
kick  about."  Unable  to  view  the  situation  from  his 
standpoint,  I  cancelled  our  contract  with  this  new  and 
wonderful  genius  in  insurance  finance. 

Schedule  Rating 

Our  present  method  of  estimating  insurance  cost  by 
schedjile  rating  has  been  of  slow  growth  or  evolution. 
With  Major  Bliven,  General  Agent  of  the  Howard  Fire 
Insurance  Co.  at  Toledo,  and  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  our  Ohio  State  Board,  schedule  rating  was  a 
hobby.  He  worked  out  and  had  printed  schedules  for 
many  classes  of  risks,  but  was  unable  to  interest  the 
companies  sufficiently  to  secure  their  adoption.     It  has 


often  been  said  of  him  that  he  was  the  originator  of 
schedule  rating  in  our  country,  and  in  the  absence  of  any 
contradictory  testimony  we  gladly  accord  to  him  this 
distinguished  honor,  which  places  Ohio  in  the  leadership 
of  another  important  and  now  popular  insurance  move- 
ment. 

To  persons  who  were  intimately  associated  with 
Major  Bliven,  the  mention  of  some  of  his  expressions 
"Schedule  Rating,"  "Superficial  Area,"  "Fiduciary 
Capacity,"  will  revive  old  memories  and  bring  back 
pleasant  recollections. 

These  schedules,  though  simple  and  easy  of  applica- 
tion, were  worked  out  with  much  care  and  intelligence, 
and  their  application  did  not  require  any  great  amount 
of  scientific  or  technical  knowledge  and  training. 

I  was  appointed  to  inspect  and  report  on  the  Clay 
Working  Plants  along  the  Ohio  River  between  Wells- 
ville  and  Steubenville.  The  prevailing  rates  on  these 
were  1%  and  1}^%  and  with  very  little  discrimination 
between  the  good  and  the  bad.  Under  some  sort  of  a 
schedule  of  my  own  making,  I  rated  these  risks  from 
13^%  to  2%,  then  had  my  conclusions  printed  in  tab- 
ulated form  and  furnished  to  the  Companies.  Not  long 
thereafter  the  wail  was  heard  that  the  assured  would 
never  pay  the  advanced  rates  and  the  companies  would 
lose  the  business,  neither  of  which  predictions  came  true. 

Youngstown 

At  one  time  there  was,  practically  speaking,  no  money 
in  Youngstown  for  circulation.  The  Manufacturers 
and  Merchants  issued  cardboard  scrip  in  denominations 
of  5,  10,  25  and  50  cents  which  constituted  the  only 
medium  of  exchange.     In  collecting  an  Agency  balance 


89 


I  accepted  this  scrip  to  the  amount  of  $600.00  which  in 
due  time  was  all  redeemed  and  the  Company  lost  noth- 
ing by  the  transaction. 

Map  Making 

Map  making  grew  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  busi- 
ness. Agents  were  required  to  make  diagrams  of  the 
risks  on  the  backs  of  their  Daily  Reports,  showing 
locations  and  exposures.  These  were  often  crude  and 
unreliable.  The  larger  and  more  important  Agencies 
were  first  supplied  with  maps,  and  many  of  them 
insured  risks  in  outside  towns  which  were  not  mapped 
and  this  work  devolved  on  the  Special  Agents.  I  think 
that  150  of  such  maps  would  be  a  conservative  estimate 
of  the  number  I  made.  Some  of  these  were  copied  by 
my  brethern  which  I  accepted  as  a  compliment. 


Expiration  Notices 

The  original  method  adopted  by  the  companies  and 
their  brokers  for  notifying  their  patrons  of  the  expira- 
tions of  their  policies  was  somewhat  peculiar  if  not 
novel.  Instead  of  enclosing  notices  to  policyholders 
and  sending  the  same  through  the  mails,  or  notifying 
them  personally,  lists  of  the  names  of  their  insurance 
patrons  and  the  dates  of  the  expirations  of  their  policies 
were  published  once  each  month  in  advance,  in  one  or 
more  of  their  city  papers.  In  the  event  that  any  of 
these  customers  were  not  subscribers  to  the  paper,  nor 
had  access  to  the  information  through  some  other  chan- 
nel, they  assumed  the  risk  of  allowing  their  policies  to 
expire,  and  for  a  time  at  least  to  be  without  insurance. 


90 


If  this  system  was  now  in  general  operation  through- 
out our  country,  property  owners  carrying  insurance 
would  have  unsolicited  opportunities  of  meeting  a  num- 
ber of  enterprising  gentlemen,  each  pressing  his  individ- 
ual claims  for  special  attention  and  consideration,  and 
would  thereby  extend  a  speaking  acquaintance  at  least 
among  his  fellow  citizens. 

Agents'  Commissions 

A  brief  history  of  Commissions  to  Agents  should,  to  a 
student  of  fire  insurance,  be  of  special  interest.  The 
first  local  representatives  of  the  fire  insurance  companies 
were  allowed  to  retain  for  their  compensation  only  what 
were  then  and  are  still  known  as  "policy  and  survey" 
fees.  Complaint  being  made  and  much  dissatisfaction 
expressed  by  the  local  agents  that  these  were  inadequate 
for  the  services  they  were  called  upon  to  perform,  the 
companies  granted  them  an  additional  compensation  to 
the  extent  of  5%  on  the  gross  premiums.  Later  on  this 
was  increased  to  10%,  and  there  are  agents  still  in  the 
business  who  can  remember  when  this  was  the  univer- 
sal compensation  throughout  the  country. 

The  Marine  Companies  paid  no  commissions  to  their 
agents.  The  only  compensation  they  received  was  for 
their  services  in  the  adjustment  of  losses. 

The  "Excepted  Cities"  innovation,  with  its  vexatious 
problems,  troubles,  perplexities  and  evil  consequences, 
is  comparatively  a  child  of  some  recent  birth,  and  has 
within  recent  years,  so  largely  increased  the  expense 
account  of  the  business  as  to  give  the  companies  serious 
concern.  With  the  view  of  controlling,  so  far  as  possible 
this  particular  item  in  their  expense  accounts,  the  com- 
panies adopted  and  are  commonly  observing,  outside 


91 


tlie  few  excepted  cities,  what  is  known  as  graded  com- 
missions, but  in  these  excepted  cities  there  seems  to  be 
no  limit  to  what  any  individual  company  may  choose  to 
pay  its  agents.  The  scheme  to  secure  increased  prem- 
ium income  by  secret  payment  of  excess  commissions  is 
only  a  repetition  of  the  old  proposition  to  obtain  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  in  exchange  for  the  soul.  It  is  the 
painted  damsel  behind  the  damask  curtain,  who,  with 
jeweled  hand  and  beckoning  finger,  tempts  weak  men  to 
deeds  of  dishonor. 

Classification 

To  clearly  understand  and  appreciate  any  certain 
method  of  ours  in  our  business,  it  is  instructive  as  well 
as  interesting  to  know  something  of  its  origin.  All 
insurance  was  looked  upon  as  speculative,  a  lottery  or 
game  of  chance,  with  no  science  whatever  entering  into 
it.  It  had  resolved  itself  into  the  simple  proposition  of 
securing  sufficient  premium  receipts  to  pay  the  losses 
and  expenditures  and  leave  a  good  margin  of  profit  to 
the  stockholders. 

A  patron,  when  visiting  the  office  of  the  company 
carrying  the  insurance  on  his  frame  tannery,  made  the 
complaint  to  the  President  (not  an  uncommon  one)  that 
his  rate  (13^%)  was  too  high  in  his  opinion,  and  should 
be  reduced.  Not  receiving  much  encouragement  from 
this  official,  he  asked  the  President:  "What  has  been 
the  experience  of  the  company  on  tanneries?"  With- 
out being  able  to  reply,  the  query  put  him  to  thinking 
and  his  thinking  led  to  action — a  classification  of  the 
Company's  Business — the  first  ever  made. 

A  classification  of  its  risks  is  now  being  kept  by  every 
legitimate  Fire   Insurance  Company — is  treated  with 


92 


jealous  care  and  as  an  essential  source  of  information  to 
guide  it  in  a  safe  conduct  of  its  affairs.  The  time  is  not 
far  distant  we  hope  when  the  experiences  of  all  the  lead- 
ing companies  will  be  collected  and  tabulated  for  their 
common  information. 

Promoters 

There  is  no  business  in  which  figures  in  themselves 
can  be  made  more  misleading  than  in  ours — something 
which  promoters  have  played  successfully  in  bagging 
their  unsuspecting  victims.  Simply  deducting  losses 
and  expenses  from  the  gross  premium  receipts  (a  com- 
mon practice  on  the  part  of  promoters)'  does  not  indi- 
cate by  any  means  the  true  financial  strength  of  the 
company.  One  company  in  its  early  history  made  this 
its  practice  and  at  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year  distrib- 
uted among  its  stockholders  the  difference  so  shown, 
but  it  soon  encountered  difficulties  which  had  not  been 
taken  into  consideration  and  which  dispelled  their 
dreams  of  large  future  dividends.  During  a  period  of 
18  years,  no  less  than  227  fire  insurance  companies  in 
our  country,  many  of  which  began  operations  with  flat- 
tering prospects  of  success,  failed,  and  commonly  from 
causes  which  had  not,  but  which  should  have  been 
taken  into  consideration  in  their  calculations.  Some 
of  these  concerns  were  promoted  and  organized  under 
misrepresentation,  and  these  all  went  where  the  unwary 
dupe  mourneth  and  the  wily  promoter  dieth  not. 

Inspectors 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  experience  among  "freshmen" 
in  our  business  to  have  attacks  of  swell-head,  some  mild, 
others  violent,  but  not  necessarily  fatal.    After  years  of 


93 


experience  and  practical  service,  such  parties  commonly 
look  back  on  their  early  performances  with  either 
chaij:rin  or  amusement,  and  discover  as  they  gain  in 
knowledge  that  the  farther  they  go  in  the  business  the 
less  they  know  about  it.  Many  risks  that  I  got  rid  of 
during  the  early  years  of  my  career  by  cancellation  or 
otherwise,  still  mock  me  with  their  obstinacy  and  cor- 
rect behaviour  while  others  that  I  have  taken  into  my 
embrace  have  betrayed  my  trust  and  confidence  by 
becoming  claims  on  us  for  adjustment.  Some  of  the 
fire  hazards  to  be  guarded  against  can  be  learned  from 
books — others  only  from  personal  investigation  and 
experience.  The  most  valuable  man  in  the  field  service 
to  his  company  is  the  trained,  intelligent  and  con- 
scientious inspector,  who  has  the  opportunity  given 
him  to  both  render  good  service  to  his  employers  and 
cultivate  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  the  company's 
patrons. 

The  novel  suggestion  was  once  made  to  one  of  our 
members  of  an  association  with  some  buxom,  blond 
clairvoyant,  as  an  assistant  inspector,  thinking  that  she 
might,  by  running  her  tapering  fingers  over  the  insur- 
ance maps  or  the  pages  of  the  registers,  detect  what 
risks  would  and  what  would  not  burn,  but  a  lack  of 
faith  in  the  success  and  the  moral  good  effects  of  the 
scheme,  coupled  with  expressions  of  disapproval  could 
not  be  overcome  by  even  such  a  glittering  prospect. 

Impressions 

Experienced  Adjusters  commonly  have,  and  in  fact 
with  almost  every  loss  entrusted  to  them,  certain  im- 
pressions that  com.e,  they  know  not  always  how  nor 
whence  and  which  influence  them  to  a  greater  or  less 


94 


extent  in  their  treatment  of  the  claim  and  claimant.  *  To 
be  able  to  utilize  these  impressions  so  as  to  reach  or 
work  out  correct  conclusions  is  one  of  the  qualifications 
of  a  good  Adjuster.  Many  honest  claimants  have  been 
rescued  from  suspicion  and  disgrace  and  many  a  scound- 
rel has  had  the  brand  of  crime  placed  upon  him  by  the 
intelligent  following  up  of  first  impressions  by  the  con- 
scientious adjuster — by  keeping  a  level  head  and  care- 
fully weighing  all  the  evidence.  Utilizing  such  impres- 
sions and  following  their  lead  to  correct  conclusions  is 
sometimes  due  to  persistency  as  well  as  to  conscientious 
intelligence. 

The  same  is  often  true  of  Inspections.  Frequently 
there  is  a  certain  something,  often  vague  and  intangible, 
found  in  a  risk  which  cannot  be  easily  described,  and 
where  the  first  impressions  are  unfavorable,  even  where 
no  good  reasons  can  be  assigned,  it  is  commonly  wise  to 
relieve  the  company  of  liability.  The  advice  of  Mark 
Twain,  "When  in  doubt,  cut  it  out,"  is  generally  safe 
to  follow.  Our  first  impressions  of  men  are  not  com- 
monly removed  nor  materially  changed  by  acquain- 
tance or  association. 

Accidents 

The  question  Jias  often  been  put  to  me,  "Have  you 
ever  had  an  accident  in  your  travels?" — referring  pos- 
sibly to  railroads,  steam  boats  and  the  hind  feet  of  the 
sad-eyed  and  festive  mule.  Passenger  cars  tumbling 
down  embankments,  bumping  along  on  the  ties  and  a 
head  end  collision  have  given  me  thrills  that  I  do  not 
care  to  have  repeated.  Maimed  and  mutilated  bodies, 
with  their  ghastliness  I  have  occasionally  seen.  The 
number  of  miles  I  have  traveled  would  have  taken  me 


95 


three  times  around  our  globe  and  with  some  left  over, 
and  I  have  come  through  all  these  experiences  without 
a  single  scratch.     Just  here  I  knock  on  wood. 

While  accidents — some  slight,  others  serious,  have 
happened  to  our  Field  Men,  none  have  either  been 
killed  or  so  disabled  as  to  unfit  them  for  service.  When 
one  considers  the  number  of  men  traveling  in  the 
interests  of  our  Insurance  Companies,  the  number  of 
miles  they  travel  and  the  small  number  of  accidents,  it 
should  incite  a  thankful  spirit.  ' 

Columbus — Combined  Policy 

The  old  Athenian  scholars  and  philosophers  were 
commonly  quite  humane  and  held  life  as  a  thing  of 
some  sacredness.  When  a  citizen  once  became  an  un- 
desirable member  of  one  or  any  of  their  privileged 
societies,  the  custom  was  to  clap  the  extinguisher  on 
him  by  inducing  him  to  either  write  a  book,  make  a 
speech,  or  preside  at  a  banquet,  and  by  such  a  humane 
method  terminate  his  literary  career  and  aspirations. 

Among  the  many  schemes  invented,  taxing  the  ingen- 
uity of  the  companies  to  increase  their  premium  receipts 
there  were  some  good,  some  bad,  and  some  so  indiffer- 
ent as  to  attract  little  or  no  attention. 

Some  time  during  the  sixties,  some  party  in  Columbus 
whose  name  has  escaped  historic  record  and  publicity, 
conceived  the  idea  of  a  "Combination"  and  for  this 
purpose,  had  attractive  literature  and  blank  policies 
gotten  out  and  headed  as  follows : 

Combined  Policy  of  Insurance,  Issued  By 

The  Capitol  Insurance  Company,  P.  Ambos,  President 
The  Franklin  Insurance  Company,  W.  G.  Deshler,  Pres. 
The  Central  Insurance  Company,     J.  A.  Wilcox,  Pres, 


96 


This  project  came  into  the  business  world  under  an 
unpropitious  star.  If  it  succeeded  in  getting  out  of  its 
swaddling  clothes,  it  did  not  survive  its  teething  period. 
The  extinguisher  dropped  over  it  in  the  early  morning 
of   its   meteoric   life. 

"One  more  unfortunate,  'Take  her  up  tenderly, 
Weary  of  breath.  Lift  her  with  care, 

Rashly  importunate.  Fashioned  so  slenderly, 
Gone  to  her  death."  Young  and  so  fair." 


Sam  Moorehead 

Mr.  Samuel  Moorehead  (everybody  called  him  Sam) 
was  a  big  man,  had  a  big  body,  a  big  heart  and  a  big 
soul.  At  the  time  to  which  this  history  refers  he  was 
the  sales  manager  for  the  Proctor  &  Gamble  Co.  of 
Cincinnati,  w^ith  home  and  headquarters  in  Columbus. 
When  about  the  hotels  he  would  desert  the  company  of 
the  commercial  travelers  and  flock  with  the  fire  insur- 
ance men,  with  whom  he  was  not  only  welcome,  but  a 
special  favorite.  It  was  during  his  association  with  us 
that  he  conceived  and  developed  the  scheme  for  organ- 
izing a  "Limited  and  Close  Syndicate  strictly  for  busi- 
ness purposes."  The  plan  contemplated  the  purchase 
of  100  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  city  of  Columbus, 
paying  a  small  amount  down  and  executing  a  mortgage 
for  the  deferred  payments.  This  allotment  was  to  be 
known  as  "Paradise  Addition"  and  was  to  be  laid  out 
in  30  foot  lots,  and  on  each  was  to  be  erected  a  Cherry 
bungalow  at  a  cost  of  not  exceeding  $500.00  then  have 
each  insured  for  $2000.00.  On  the  first  dark  night  that 
favored  a  general  conflagration,  it  was  planned  to  have 
the  whole  "bloomin"  addition  go  up  in  smoke  and  ashes; 


97 


but  at  a  critical  time,  when  our  prospects  seemed  bright- 
est, a  member  of  the  Syndicate  got  cold  feet — gave  the 
whole  scheme  away  and  came  near  landing  all  of  the 
other  members  in  the  penitentiary.  This  gentleman, 
afterwards  known  as  a  traitor,  was  never  held  in  high 
favor  thereafter — never  enjoyed  to  any  great  extent  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  his  associates.  After  seasons 
and  sessions  of  hilarity  and  mirth,  this  traitor  usually 
emerged  through  a  rear  door,  clad  in  a  long  overcoat 
that  came  down  to  his  ankles,  and  to  make  him  appear 
ridiculous  to  the  other  conspirators.  Sam  insisted  this 
was  done  to  conceal  his  wabbling  legs.  One  day  while 
on  a  train  between  Zanesville  and  Columbus  we  dis- 
cussed, among  other  things,  insurance  problems  and  in 
doing  so  we  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  citizens  of 
Columbus  and  Franklin  county  needed  at  least  some 
general  protection  for  themselves  and  possibly  a  guard- 
ian for  the  protection  of  their  public  w^orks. 

Shortly  after  this  conversation  the  following  commu- 
nication was  published  in  one  of  the  Columbus  papers: 

"Perhaps  as  bright,  sharp,  good  natured  lot  of  men  as 
make  their  homes  or  headquarters  in  Columbus,  are  the 
fire  insurance  adjusters,  representing  big  home  and  for- 
eign companies,  who  pay  to  their  customers  thousands 
and  thousands  of  dollars  annually.  These  are  the  men 
who  take  up  their  work  with  their  agents  before  fires 
occur,  in  securing  good  risks  and  plenty  of  them,  and 
when  the  fire  companies  have  withdrawn  from  the 
insured  property  are  on  the  field  figuring  on  damages 
and  adjusting  losses,  so  that  no  delay  may  be  caused  and 
the  insured  suffer  no  loss.  The^^  were  formerly  classed 
with  the  fellow  who  collected  the  note  that  the  unwary 
farmer  had  given  for  lightning  rods,  hay  forks  or  patent 
fence,  and  were  supposed  to  be  always  after  the  "best 


98 


of  it."  All  these  suspicions  have  long  since  been  swept 
out  by  the  same  broom  that  cleaned  the  character  of  the 
traveling  salesmen,  and  now  they  are  known  as  among 
the  fairest,  most  honorable  and  brightest  men  in  any 
business,  unless  they  run  up  against  some  "smart  alex" 
who  is  unreasonable  and  willing  to  put  up  his  knowledge 
against  theirs,  and  then,  ye  gods,  look  out.  The  poor 
devil  before  he  gets  through  is  glad  to  have  a  few  souven- 
irs of  his  fire  left  to  him  in  the  shape  of  something  that 
wouldn't  burn — of  furniture  carried  outside,  while  Mr. 
Adjuster  walks  off  with  the  check  in  his  pocket  which 
was  made  payable  to  the  order  of  the  assured,  had  he 
treated  fairly  and  honorably.  Like  wild  geese  they 
generally  go  in  droves,  and  when  around  the  hotels, 
good  naturedly  guy  each  other  on  securing  some  val- 
uable and  desirable  risk;  but  not  until  it  is  signed, 
sealed  and  delivered  will  they  even  hint  to  each  other 
that  they  are  after  it  and  thus  expose  competition. 
Almost  any  Saturday  evening  or  Sunday,  "relating 
their  tales  of  adventure  by  field  or  flood,"  may  be  found 
around  the  Neil  house,  this  crowd,  known  as  "the 
gang,"  and  composed  of  Deacon  P.  J.  Hobbs,  F.  E. 
Shaw,  little  Dick  Huggard,  George  Reynolds,  F.  S. 
Brooks,  D.  E.  Julian,  A.  J.  Pembroke,  G.  E.  Meeker 
and  John  A.  Kelly.  Hobbs  is  the  sage  of  the  crowd, 
caused  by  his  quiet  and  ministerial  manner,  while 
Reynolds  may  be  known  by  the  way  he  says  "deown 
thar"  and  "befo  the  wah,"  while  Shaw  and  Pembroke 
are  said  to  be  the  only  men  who  never  told  a  lie — for 
nothing.  Each  one  has  his  marked  individuality  and 
loses  no  time  in  announcing  how  he  ha^  outgeneraled 
his  competitors  on  a  risk.  But  it  remains  for  them, 
one  and  all,  to  be  completely  overthrown,  utterly 
annihilated,  completely  routed  and  skillfully  outdone 


99 


by  a  quiet,  modest,  unassuming  old  gentleman  from 
Mansfield,  representing  the  "Old  North  America,"  Mr. 
L.  J.  Bonar.  When  Bonar  is  asked  where  he  lives,  he 
quietly  says:  "Me  and  John  Sherman  live  in  Mans- 
field," showing  the  great  favor  he  is  doing  Sherman. 
Like  Sherman,  and  raised  under  his  tutelage,  he  don't 
say,  but  saws  lots  of  wood  and  is  known  to  have  both 
eyes  open  for  business,  snaps,  and  good  risks  for  his 
employers.  Before  a  court  house  corner  stone  is  laid, 
it  is  said  Bonar  has  a  risk  on  the  ground,  and  a  sharp 
trick  played  yesterday  in  Columbus  is  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  his  gray  hair  is  no  sign  of  lack  of  energy 
nor  no  proof  that  he  is  on  the  downhill  of  life. 

While  Shaw,  Hobbs,  Reynolds  and  Co.  were  smoking 
their  "twofers"  around  the  comfortable  lobby  of  the 
hotel,  he  quietly  and  unknown  slipped  down  here  and 
secured  a  risk  on  the  new  viaduct  for  $100,000.00  for 
five  years  at  1  per  cent.  To  many  of  the  aforesaid 
gentlemen  this  will  be  the  first  intimation  of  Bonar's 
presence  in  Columbus  at  this  time  and  will  come  like 
a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky,  as  they  have  all  had 
their  eagle  eyes  on  the  risk  on  account  of  its  desira- 
bility. But  Bonar  got  it  all — lightning  clause,  natural 
gas  permit,  tornado  risk — everything  and,  without  an 
unkind  word  or  cruel  jeer  at  his  competitors,  took  it 
back  to  "me  and  John  Sherman's  home."  It  was  cer- 
tainly a  master  stroke  of  insurance,  and  while  all  will 
quietly  kick  themselves  at  their  loss,  none  will  censure 
Bonar  for  his  ability,  and  his  name  and  fame  will  be 
handed  down  among  them  as  the  grand  old  man  from 
Mansfield  who  got  the  famous  Columbus  Viaduct  risk 
right  from  under  the  very  noses  of  watching  compet- 
itors and  at  no  cut  in  the  regular  rates." 

S.  M. 


100 


On  the  next  day  the  following  announcement  ap- 
peared in  the  columns  of  the  Ohio  State  Journal : 

"The  attention  of  Insurance  Agents  of  our  city  is 
called  to  a  letter  published  yesterday  in  the  Journal, 
stating  that  the  insurance  on  the  High  Street  Viaduct 
had  been  secured  by  a  special  agent  not  a  resident  of 
Columbus.  The  transaction  was  unprofessional  and 
the  local  agent  of  the  company  should  at  once  send  in  his 
resignation,  and  all  other  agents  should  refuse  to  rep- 
resent the  guilty  company." 

Signed — Local  Agent 

Ex-Governor  Campbell  of  Ohio  (now  of  New  York 
City)  practiced  law  and  conducted  a  Fire  Insurance 
Agency  at  Hamilton,  Ohio.  He  and  Sam  were  warm 
personal  friends  and  occasionally  practiced  their  jokes 
on  each  other. 

Having  some  insurance  to  place,  Mr.  Moorehead 
naturally  went  to  the  office  of  his  friend  who  issued 
the  policy  folded  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the  as- 
sured who  in  turn  placed  it  in  his  inside  coat  pocket — 
took  it  home  and  filed  it  carefully  away  with  other 
documents.  In  about  a  year  thereafter,  it  occured  to 
him  that  his  insurance  would  soon  expire  and  getting 
out  his  policy  for  examination,  found  written  across 
the  face  of  it  in  red  ink  "In  case  of  loss  this  policy  is 
null  and  void."  Just  what  took  place  when  these  two 
gentlemen  came  together  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described. 

Personal  History 

It  will  not,  I  trust,  be  improper  to  state  by  way  of 
apology  that  the  following  sketch  would  not  have  been 
prepared  had  not  my  wife,  to  whose  good  judgment  I 


101 


commonly  defer,  made  repeated  requests  of  me  to  furnish 
lier  and  my  friends  with  some  such  record  that  she  and 
they  might  know  more  of  my  former  Hfe  and  become  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  me. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  to  me  on  several  differ- 
ent occasions  and  by  several  different  and  well  meaning 
persons  that  I  might  secure  for  myself  an  itch  or  a  niche 
in  the  Hall  of  Fame  by  giving  to  the  world  a  sketch  of  my 
somewhat  uneventful  life  including  a  certain  few  of  my 
(to  me,)  exceptional  business  experiences,  but  to  all  such 
alluring  suggestions  with  their  temptations,  I  have  thus 
far  been  able  to  turn  a  deaf  ear.  The  day  (or  the  night) 
is  however,  on  its  steady  way  when  my  critics  will  cease 
from  troubling  and  the  writer  will  be  at  rest. 

In  indulging  in  reminiscences — in  bringing  incidents 
of  my  life  out  from  the  shadowed  nooks  and  corners  into 
the  light,  neither  the  time  nor  place  of  my  birth  are  of 
any  special  interest  or  general  concern,  but  to  correct  the 
common  impression  that  I  first  saw  the  light  and  drew 
my  first  breath  in  Old  Independence  Hall  in  Philadelphia 
in  April  1792,  I  will  state  that  an  entry  made  (probably 
with  a  goose  quill  pen)  by  my  father,  in  the  old  family 
Bible  (the  accuracy  of  which  cannot  be  questioned)  indi- 
cates that  I  was  born  on  the  23rd  day  of  March,  1836, 
which  important  event  in  my  career  occurred  in  a  log 
cabin,  the  residence  of  my  parents  located  on  a  farm 
adjoining  a  small  village  with  the  pretentious  name  of 
Lucerne,  in  Knox  county,  this  State,  and  located  on  the 
main  road  about  midway  between  Fredericktown  and 
Chesterville ;  an  event  of  which  I  have  now  no  distinct 
recollections.  As  an  infant  I  was  cross,  scrawny  and  so 
generally  unattractive,  I  have  been  told,  that  it  must 
have  been  a  tax  on  my  mother's  love  to  nurse  me  through 


102 


my  babyhood,  and  I  think  that  it  will  be  conceded  by 
those  who  know  me  best  that  I  have  been  able  to  hold 
my  own  fairly  well  along  these  lines. 

Ours  was  an  old-fashioned  family  and  our  customs  and 
habits  had  remained  practically  unchanged  for  a  century 
so  far  as  we  knew. 

In  our  neighborhood  was  a  dam  by  a  mill  site  and  a 
mill  by  a  dam  site,  where  our  wheat  and  corn  were  con- 
verted into  flour  and  meal,  the  miller  taking  out  his  toll 
for  the  conversion. 

In  the  morning  we  had  Breakfast,  at  noon  our  Dinner, 
and  in  the  evening  our  Supper — all  of  which  we  ate  with- 
out the  aid  of  menu  cards  and  the  restriction  of  courses. 

Just  why  my  short  and  simple  name  should  be  twisted 
into  so  many  incorrect  and  inexcusable  pronunciations 
I  have  never  been  able  to  account  for.  In  some  localities 
I  am  correctly  addressed  as  Bo-nar;  in  others  as  Boner, 
Bonner  and  Bonaire,  but  I  have  received  some  compen- 
sation for  these  inaccuracies  in  the  unmerited  titles 
which  have  been  thrust  upon  me,  as  Colonel,  General, 
Judge,  Honorable,  Reverend,  Dean  and  Sage  of  Mans- 
field. 

My  paternal  grandfather,  Matthew  Bonar,  a  pioneer 
and  frontiersman,  was  of  Scotch  descent  and  was  one  of 
the  early  and  first  settlers  in  that  section  of  the  country, 
which  was  then  a  wilderness;  and  after  clearing  up  and 
tilling  for  a  few  years  a  portion  of  his  land  in  Owl  Creek 
Valley,  he  moved  with  quite  a  large  family  of  sons  and 
daughters  and  their  children  to  Henry  County,  Illinois, 
where  he  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  with  a  view  of 
having  his  children  (my  father  excepted)  settle  near  him 
and  establish  a  family  of  Bonar  community,  but  with 
this  cherished  dream  the  fates,  as  is  commonly  the  case, 
did  not  deal  kindly  and  the  fond  dream  was  not  realized. 


103 


My  maternal  grandparents,  John  Lewis  and  Hannah 
Conger  Lewis,  were  of  Welsh  descent  and  emigrated  from 
New  Jersey  into  Ohio  before  it  was  admitted  as  a  state 
into  the  Union.  They  settled  in  the  wilderness  near 
what  is  now  Lucerne,  where  I  was  born.  Their  nearest 
white  neighbors  at  that  time  lived  at  Mt.  Vernon,  ten 
miles  distant,  and  the  nearest  flour  or  grist  mill  was 
located  at  Zanesville.  The  trail  of  the  Sandusky  tribe 
of  Indians  leading  to  Mt.  Vernon,  their  trading  post,  was 
within  200  yards  of  their  cabin,  and  they  had  many  thril- 
ling and  exciting  experiences  with  these  red  men,  which 
were  often  and  minutely  related  to  me  by  my  grand- 
mother. The  old  puncheon  floor,  the  mortar  and  pestle 
for  crushing  corn  into  hominy  and  meal,  the  long  rifled 
gun,  and  the  wolf  trap  with  its  double  steel  springs  and 
chain  attached,  were  among  the  things  connected  and 
associated  with  that  cabin  home  that  were  indelibly  fixed 
in  my  memory. 

In  one  of  the  early  histories  of  Ohio  the  statement  was 
made  that  my  grandfather  and  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Bryant,  a  pioneer  who  later  on  had  settled  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  captured  and  killed,  in  addition  to  much 
other  large  game,  fifty- three  wolves  in  one  winter.  The 
government  at  that  time  paid  a  bounty  for  their  scalps. 
Knox  County  was  originally  much  larger  than  at  present, 
embracing  what  is  now  a  part  of  Morrow  County.  At  an 
election  held  for  county  offices  my  grandfather  received 
sixty-seven  and  his  opponent  sixty-four  votes  for  County 
Commissioner,  and  the  records  (still  in  existence)  of 
their  official  meetings  indicate  that  the  principal  busi- 
ness transacted  was  the  allowance  and  payment  of  the 
bounty  for  wolf  scalps,  which  in  those  days  were  a  legal 
tender  and  accepted  in  payment  of  taxes. 


104 


While  claiming  no  distinction  for  entertaining  Indians, 
trapping  wolves  and  shooting  bears,  I  simply  relate  these 
incidents  in  the  life  of  my  grandparents  to  show  that  I 
have  some  pioneer  and  frontiersman  blood  in  my  veins. 

The  name  of  my  father  was  James  and  that  of  my 
mother  Jane  Lewis  Bonar,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
Ohio.  My  father  purchased  a  parcel  of  the  land  orig- 
inally entered  and  owned  by  my  granfdather,  (John 
Lewis,)  and  lived  on  it  until  I  was  16  years  old,  when  he 
sold  it  and  bought  a  farm  two  miles  east  of  Johnsville, 
Morrow  county,  Ohio,  where  he  died  two  years  later. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  postmaster  at  Lucerne,  the 
emoluments  of  which  office  usually  amounted  to  some- 
thing like  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  a  year.  The  mails  came 
to  this  office  three  times  each  week  and  were  carried  on 
horseback  between  Mt.  Vernon  and  Mt.  Gilead.  The 
carriers,  having  the  confidence  of  the  public,  as  they  did, 
were  often  entrusted  with  packages  which  were  excluded 
from  the  mails.  Letter  postage  at  that  time  for  a  dis- 
tance of  three  hundred  miles  or  more  was  twenty-five 
cents,  and  for  a  less  distance  ten  cents.  There  were  no 
envelopes  nor  postage  stamps  and  each  letter  or  each 
package  of  letters  to  one  destination  had  to  be  sealed  and 
accompanied  by  a  way  bill,  then  securely  tied  with  a 
string  before  being  placed  in  the  mail  sack. 

The  wool  from  our  sheep  and  the  fiax  grown  on  our 
farm  furnished  the  materials  from  which  all  of  the  family 
clothing  was  made.  The  cloth  was  indeed  "homespun" 
in  every  respect  as  well  as  home  woven,  and  our  clothing 
was  cut  and  made  by  my  mother,  and  while  French  pat- 
terns were  not  strictly  adhered  to,  nor  any  special  mod- 
ern up-to-date  styles  copied,  our  clothing,  including  our 
boots  and  shoes,  which  were  also  hand-made,  answered 
our  purposes  very  well  and  rarely  occasioned  any  com- 
ment or  criticism. 


105 


We  had  in  our  home  at  Lucerne  the  first  cook-stove 
that  I  ever  saw,  in  fact  it  was  the  first  one  used  in  that 
entire  neighborhood.  It  was  a  curiosity  and  attracted 
considerable  attention,  the  neighbors  for  some  distance 
around  coming  in  to  see  it.  Compared  with  our  pre- 
sent stoves  and  ranges  it  certainly  would  be  considered 
a  very  crude  affair.  It  was  what  was  then  and  for 
many  years  thereafter  known  as  the  "elevated  oven" 
stove,  long  since  gone  out  of  use,  and  its  cost  to  us  was 
eighteen  dollars.  For  heating,  cooking  and  baking  pur- 
poses, prior  to  the  purchase  of  our  cook-stove  we  had 
to  use  and  depend  upon  an  old-fashioned  fire-place, 
into  which,  during  the  winter  months  or  cold  weather 
we  would  roll  large  back  logs  over  the  floor.  Our 
only  lights  were  tallow  dips — candles  (which  we  made 
ourselves)   and  lard  or  grease  lamps. 

I  distinctly  remember  the  first  percussion  match  I  ever 
saw  and  how  it  looked  when  lighted.  It  was  important 
in  all  country  homes  to  keep  fire  continually — that  is, 
at  least  live  coals  to  start  a  fire  for  cooking,  heating  and 
baking  when  necessary.  Should  the  fires  go  out  in  a 
home  they  would  either  be  rekindled  by  coals  carried  in 
a  brazier  from  the  house  of  a  neighbor  or  started  by  strik- 
ing a  flint  with  a  piece  of  steel,  allowing  the  sparks  to  fall 
on  a  piece  of  dry  punk  which  was  always  kept  ready  and 
handy  for  this  purpose.  I  have  started  our  home  fires 
many  times  in  this  way  and  often  when  out  in  the  woods 
making  maple  sugar,  cutting  timber,  or  hunting  "coon" 
or  "possum." 

My  father  was  a  member  of  and  a  preacher  (commonly 
called  Elder)  in  what  was  known  as  the  Old  School  or 
Hard  Shell  Baptist  church,  and  ministered  to  three  coun- 
try congregations.  To  maintain  good  standing  in  this 
religious  organization  it  was  essential  that  the  male  com- 


106 


municants  vote  the  straight  Democratic  ticket,  and  that 
the  members  of  both  sexes  show  their  wilhngness  to 
suffer  martyrdom  if  necessary  in  defense  of  their  convic- 
tions that  the  scriptural  method  of  baptism  was  by  im- 
mersion. In  order  that  the  Elder  (or  preacher)  should 
be  influenced  only  by  the  purest  and  most  unselfish 
motives  in  his  official  duties,  he  was,  by  common  consent 
permitted  to  occupy  this  exalted  office  and  discharge  its 
sacred  duties  without  pay;  a  practice  then  common  in 
that  denomination  and  which  was  most  religiously  ob- 
serv^ed.  A  general  donation  party  was  once  held  in  our 
home,  which  may  have  given  relief  to  troubled  minds, 
but  whether  we  were  richer  or  poorer  after  it  was  over 
is  a  matter  upon  which  I  have  often  conjectured,  but 
never  had  any  settled  convictions.  I  have,  however, 
long  been  of  the  opinion  that  we  were  "out  of  pocket"  as 
a  net  result  of  that  donation  party.  When  life's  fitful 
dream  of  the  Elder  was  over,  the  friends  assembled 
about  his  grave  and  consoled  themselves  with  the 
thought  that  he  had  found  his  rest  and  had  gone  to  his 
reward. 

I  had  two  brothers  and  one  sister;  Matthew  Leander, 
born  March  5th,  1838,  Katherine,  born  March  31st, 
1843,  whose  husband,  Rezin  W.  Bell,  was  for  many 
years  the  honored,  efficient  and  trusted  Steward  of  the 
State  Institution  for  the  Blind,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  which 
position  he  held  through  successive  as  well  as  different 
political  administrations,  and  Milton  Ludlow,  born 
January  12th,  1852. 

At  the  age  of  10  years  I  was  turning  over  the  sod  and 
soil  on  my  father's  farm  with  a  ''Long's  Patent"  right 
hand  plow  and  was  doing  practically  all  kinds  of  farm 
work.  When  about  12  years  of  age  I  chopped  and  put 
up  in  the  woods  on  our  farm,  eight  cords  of  stove  wood 


107 


for  an  uncle  of  mine,  Mitchel  Lewis,  who  was  the  cabinet- 
maker of  Lucerne  and  for  which  he  made  me  a  small 
chest  of  birdseye  maple — the  first  piece  of  property  I 
ever  owned  or  purchased  by  my  own  efforts  and  for 
which  reason  I  greatly  prized.  Very  much  to  my  regret 
this  chest  was  afterwards  stolen  from  my  home  and  I 
would  still  give  many  times  its  intrinsic  value  for  its 
return  and  ask  no  questions. 

During  my  boyhood  days  when  I  was  about  15,  I 
drove  a  team  of  two  horses  and  a  covered  moving  wagon 
loaded  with  household  goods  from  Lucerne  through  to 
Morrison,  Ills.,  a  journey  which  at  that  time  required 
two  weeks  to  make.  My  life  on  the  farm  was  one  of 
denial,  toil,  hard  work  and  drudgery,  and  often  when 
chafing  under  its  restraints  I  planned  to  run  away, 
dreaming  that  I  might  find  more  freedom  and  less  work 
somewhere  in  the  Sunny  South,  but  such  an  opportune 
opportunity  never  presented  itself — fortunately  for  me, 
I  presume.  I  also  had  a  consuming  ambition  to  become 
connected  in  some  capacity  with  a  real  animal  or  circus 
show  and  share  its  experiences  and  excitements.  This 
youthful  ambition  led  me,  as  it  has  so  many  boys  before 
and  since,  to  organize  a  show  of  my  own,  and  the  exhi- 
bitions were  given  in  my  father's  barn.  Attracting  but 
little  attention  and  patronage  outside  of  the  few  perfor- 
mers and  not  meeting  with  financial  success,  it  had  its 
run  and  then  failed,  as  do  most  of  such  boyish  schemes 
and  ventures. 

My  amusements  were  very  limited  indeed  and  about 
the  only  recreation  I  had  was  skating  on  Owl  Creek  ice 
or  playing  ball  during  the  recess  while  attending  country 
school.  While  Sunday  afforded  me  some  physical  rest  I 
did  not  look  forward  to  the  day  with  any  special  anxiety 


108 


or  pleasure  or  mental  recreation,  and  for  the  reason  that 
while  my  father  and  mother  were  both  kind  and  gener- 
ous, they  had  certain  convictions  concerning  the  obser- 
vance of  the  Sabbath  day  which  were  not  in  strict  har- 
mony with  my  desires  or  with  my  views  of  life.  I  was 
not  allowed  to  play,  to  amuse  myself  by  exercising  my 
own  inclinations  nor  read  any  literature,  unless  it  be  the 
Bible  or  some  religious  book — the  one  most  in  demand 
being  "Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs."  These  home  restraints 
and  restrictions,  however,  in  later  years  bore  the  fruits 
of  respect  and  reverence  for  the  Sabbath  day,  which  this 
history  will  indicate  in  another  place. 

My  limited  education,  which  was  largely  confined  to 
the  three  R's,  was  gained  at  our  country  district  school, 
which  I  attended  during  the  winter  months  and  worked 
on  the  farm  during  the  summer.  In  English  grammar 
I  stood  at  the  head,  while  in  algebra  and  the  higher 
mathematics  I  stood  as  a  cipher  at  the  foot  of  my  class, 
Many  mornings  before  getting  out  of  bed  I  shook  the 
snow  from  the  coverings  and  stood  with  my  feet  in  it 
while  dressing.  I  had,  however,  ambitions  for  an  edu- 
cation— some  taste  for  good  reading.  When  19  years  of 
age  I  tramped  from  our  home  to  Mansfield,  a  distance  of 
12  miles,  carrying  with  me  a  few  dollars  which  I  had 
saved  up,  and  with  these  purchased  at  the  Dimon  Stur- 
ges  Book  Store,  Rollin's  Ancient  History  in  two  volumes, 
and  a  copy  of  Addison's  Spectator,  which  I  carried  back 
to  our  home,  and  I  still  remember  something  of  the  pride 
and  joy  I  then  had  in  being  the  possessor  of  these  books 
which  compose  a  part  of  my  present  library. 

My  father  died  when  I  was  18,  and  being  the  eldest  of 
the  four  children  the  care  of  the  family  devolved  upon 
my  mother  and  myself,  a  task  that  taxed  our  energies 
and  ingenuity,  but  farm  life  never  appealed  to  my  tastes 


109 


— never  had  any  special  fascinations  for  me.  In  1856  I 
became  connected  as  a  clerk  with  a  general  store  belong- 
ing to  Strong  &  Waring  of  Bellville,  Ohio,  to  which 
place  my  mother  afterwards  moved  and  made  her  home 
until  the  time  of  her  death.  For  the  first  three  months 
service  I  received  my  board — that  is,  my  food,  and  as  an 
economic  measure  slept  on  an  improvised  bed  in  the 
store.  For  the  first  year  succeeding  these  initial  three 
months  I  was  paid  a  salary  of  $75.00  and  did  practically 
all  of  the  hard  and  dirty  work  of  such  village  stores  at 
such  times  as  I  was  not  engaged  in  waiting  on  customers. 
I  was  an  employee  in  this  village  store  until  the  mem- 
orable year  of  1861,  when  I  volunteered  in  the  three 
months  service  under  Captain  Miller  Moody — went  with 
the  Company  as  far  as  Camp  Chase  at  Columbus,  where 
I  was  assigned  to  some  clerical  work  in  the  office  of  the 
Colonel  of  the  regiment.  I  was  five  feet  ten  and  a  half 
inches  in  height,  weighed  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
pounds  only,  and  the  examining  officers,  after  looking 
me  over,  evidently  did  not  regard  me  as  a  proper  or  fit 
subject  for  military  life  and  therefore  I  was  not  accepted 
as  a  volunteer  soldier.  After  returning  home  I  spent 
some  time  at  Bellville  in  buying  country  produce  and 
live  stock,  going  with  the  latter  to  New  York,  Hagers- 
town,  Md.  and  Martinsburg,  West  Virginia.  It  was  at 
this  last  named  place,  where  I  had  gone  with  a  carload  of 
mules  for  our  Union  army,  that  I  first  came  in  contact 
with  any  considerable  number  of  our  federal  troops. 
General  Patterson  and  ten  thousand  men  under  his 
command  were  encamped  there. 

One  of  my  three  partners  (all  of  whom  then  resided  in 
Mansfield)  who  was  entrusted  to  procure  the  money  from 
one  of  the  Mansfield  banks  to  carry  on  our  business 
(at  Bellville,)  indulged  in  the  slick  practice  of  systemat- 

110 


ically  taking  out  a  fractional  part  of  the  currency  for  his 
own  use,  and  then  shipping  the  balance  by  express  to  me 
at  Bellville.  At  the  close  of  our  season  in  the  spring 
when  this  breach  of  trust  was  discovered,  it  was  with 
some  delay  and  much  difficulty  that  this  guilty  party  was 
brought  face  to  face  with  his  crime.  The  final  adjust- 
ment of  our  business  connections  and  transactions 
showed  that  my  personal  finances  were  not  only  at  zero, 
but  were  one  thousand  dollars  below  that  cipher  mark, 
which  certainly  did  not  present  an  enthusiastic  outlook 
nor  an  optimistic,  comforting  situation  to  a  young  man 
like  myself  starting  out  with  an  ambition  to  make 
his  way  in  the  world,  with  a  young  wife  whose  good 
opinion  and  respect  I  coveted  beyond  all  things  else. 
However,  discouraged  as  I  was,  I  did  not  give  up  and 
sulk  in  my  tent.  What  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  manly 
thing  to  do  under  these  discouraging  conditions  was  to 
put  on  a  little  more  steam — infuse  into  my  activities 
what  pluck  and  energy  I  could,  which  I  did,  and  after  a 
few  years  of  strenuous  tussle  with  the  Fates  I  was  per- 
mitted to  stand  again  on  my  feet  at  the  foot  of  the  finan- 
cial ladder  with  a  determination  to  climb  upward.  After 
getting  my  feet  squarely  on  terra  firma  once  more  I  pur- 
chased a  home  on  the  west  side  of  South  Main  Street  in 
Mansfield,  "on  the  hill,"  for  which  I  agreed  to  and  did 
pay  $1800.00  in  installments,  out  of  the  savings  from  my 
still  limited  earnings.  Here  my  wife  had  a  circle  of  warm 
and  devoted  friends  among  the  women  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, but  these  she  lost  one  after  another  by  death  until 
all  had  been  taken.  This  loss  produced  in  her  a  feeling 
of  such  intense  loneliness  and  isolation  that  she  express- 
ed her  wish  to  me  to  establish  a  new  home  and  make 
new  friends  in  some  other  portion  of  the  city.  After  a 
few  weeks  of  delay,  casting  about  and   consideration, 


111 


she  selected  the  property  at  No.  166  Park  Avenue 
West,  which  I  bought  without  having  looked  at  it. 
This  is  still  my  home  and  my  sanctuary. 

While  living  in  Bellville  I  was  elected  and  served  one 
term  as  township  treasurer,  with  a  small  salary  attached, 
which  gave  me  a  taste  for  politics  and  which  afterwards 
led  to  my  appointment  as  Deputy  Sheriff  of  our  county 
under  John  W.  Strong,  but  no  long  time  had  elapsed 
before  the  scales  fell  from  my  eyes  and  disappointed  as 
I  was  in  my  fellowmen  I  became  so  disgusted  with  the 
insincerity,  hypocrisy,  dishonesty  and  corruption  of 
local  politics  that  I  resigned  my  office.  For  three  or 
more  years  following  this  resignation  I  was  first  sales- 
man in  the  general  store  of  Strong  &  Hedrick,  Mansfield, 
afterwards  Strong,  Felt  &  Ingersoll.  Later  on  I  spent 
some  time  in  the  service  of  the  Adams  Express  Co.  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky  and  had  a  position  in  the  money 
department  of  the  Company  at  the  time  the  soldiers  of 
the  Civil  War  were  being  paid  off.  For  a  period  of  seven 
years  I  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Blymyer  Bros,  in  Mans- 
field, selling  house  furnishing  goods  and  other  merchan- 
dise both  in  the  store  and  on  the  road.  It  w^as  during 
this  engagement  that  I  accepted  the  local  agency  of  five 
Fire  Insurance  Companies,  for  which  I  did  a  fair  busi- 
ness, but  that  great  fire — that  historic  conflagration  in 
Chicago  in  October,  1871  played  havoc  with  my  arrange- 
ments and  plans — wiped  these  all  out  and  left  me  with- 
out a  job  so  far  as  the  Insurance  business  was  concerned. 
With  this  unlooked  for  and  unwelcome  personal  disaster 
there  also  confronted  me  the  interests  of  my  insurance 
customers,  many  of  whom  w^re  mechanics  in  moderate 
circumstances.  A  list  of  my  policyholders  and  their 
policies  was  promptly  made  out  and  given  to  the  local 
agents  of  the  Insurance  Company  of  North  America 


112 


with  instructions  to  protect  my  patrons  with  insurance 
in  that  Company,  and  of  which  action  on  my  part  they 
were  promptly  advised.  It  probably  was  this  transac- 
tion more  than  any  other  that  led  to  my  official  connec- 
tion with  that  Company.  So  the  day  of  my  trouble  and 
anxiety — the  day  among  the  darkest  of  my  life  turned 
out  to  be  the  turning  point  for  a  broader,  a  more  active 
— a  more  useful  place  in  the  world's  activities. 

Early  in  January  1872,  while  recovering  from  a  serious 
injury  which  had  blinded  me  temporarily,  Mr.  John  P. 
Vance,  a  personal  friend  and  the  State  Agent  of  the 
Insurance  Company  of  North  America  for  Ohio,  called 
several  times  at  my  home  to  comfort  and  console  me, 
and  during  one  of  these  sympathetic  visits  he  suggested 
for  rest  and  diversion  a  two  week's  job  on  the  road  as 
Special  Agent  under  him,  which  after  some  hesitation  I 
accepted,  and  with  no  other  expectation  than  that  it 
would  end  in  two  weeks  or  with  the  termination  of  the 
engagement.  After  having  returned  and  having  present- 
ed my  report,  which  Mr.  Vance  not  only  approved,  but 
complimented  me  by  saying  that  my  work  was  entirely 
satisfactory  and  filled  the  bill  completely.  He  then 
asked  me  to  continue  a  while  longer  in  his  service  saying 
that  he  had  some  additional  field  work  that  I,  without 
experience,  could  do  as  well  as  a  person  having  experience 
on  the  road,  and  with  this  beginning,  this  start  for 
higher  things  and  without  any  other  contract  or  agree- 
ment I  have  been  in  the  continuous  service  of  the  Insur- 
ance Company  of  North  America  for  almost  forty-nine 
years.  My  engagement  or  rather  my  work  as  Special 
Agent  for  the  Company  began  February  14th,  1872,  St. 
Valentine's  Day,  the  day  when  birds  are  supposed  to 
mate,  which  I  think  must  have  been  a  propitious  day 
and  a  good  omen  for  me. 


113 


My  insurance  education  and  training  have  been  in 
what  we  might  call  the  "old  school,"  and  my  business 
habits,  mind  and  character  have  been  very  largely 
shaped  by  General  Agent  Downing,  in  whose  service  I 
was  continuously  for  thirty-eight  years.  There  was 
nothing  mean,  small  or  narrow  in  his  make-up,  but  he 
was  one  of  the  most  complete  all-around  men  I  ever  met. 
He  believed  this  world  was  large  enough  for  all — that 
there  was  plenty  of  elbow  room  for  each  and  everyone 
and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  everyone  to  be  considerate 
and  charitable  with  the  mistakes  and  faults  of  others — 
to  behave  ourselves  the  best  we  could — act  the  part  of 
true  gentlemen  and  cultivate  every  opportunity  for 
friendliness  and  good  will. 

When  asked  why  I  chose  the  Insurance  business  as  my 
profession  my  reply  has  been — "Destiny."  The  need 
of  money  put  me  in  the  local  business  and  a  serious 
injury  put  me  in  the  way  of  field  work.  My  father, 
being  an  unqualified  Calvinist,  taught  me  the  dangers 
and  terrors  of  fire,  and  being  a  Baptist  I  had  ocular 
demonstrations  in  the  Marine  branch.  During  his  serv- 
ice as  postmaster  my  attention  was  directed  to  Parcel 
Post,  and  in  my  dreams  I  could  see  the  horse  and  mail 
bags  yield  place  to  our  present  and  efficient  railway 
service.  My  out-door  duties  and  athletics  had  laid  the 
foundation  for  a  strenuous  life  and  my  commercial  exper- 
iences were  helpful  in  the  adjustment  of  losses,  so  it 
would  seem  that  an  unseen  hand  was  guiding  my 
footsteps. 

When  I  commenced  traveling  as  a  Special  Agent  there 
were  no  railroads  in  the  Ohio  River  Valley  between  Par- 
kersburg,  W.  Va.  and  Cincinnati — the  only  railroad 
station  being  at  Portsmouth — the  southern  terminus  of 
a  branch  running  between  that  city  and  the  village  of 

114 


Hamden.  The  only  means  of  travel  in  that  section  was 
by  river  boats,  both  great  and  small,  boats  that  might  be 
classed  as  good,  bad  and  indifferent.  It  required  about 
two  weeks  to  make  the  trip  and  visit  the  agencies.  There 
being  no  telegraph  offices  in  the  river  towns  there  were 
no  means  for  ascertaining  when  boats  past  due  would 
probably  arrive,  and  "watchful  waiting"  was  often 
patience-trying.  Passenger  service  by  the  railroads  was 
not  above  criticism.  Fewer  trains  were  then  run  than 
now  and  many  of  these  were  run  as  accommodation 
trains,  consisting  of  a  number  of  freight,  with  a  passenger 
car  attached  in  the  rear.  Passenger  trains  were  limited 
to  25  miles  and  freight  trains  to  10  miles  an  hour  in  their 
running  schedules.  There  were  no  telegraph  offices  out- 
side the  cities;  Pullman,  chair  and  dining  cars  had  not 
been  invented.  Passenger  coaches  were  heated  by  stoves 
located  in  the  ends  and  were  lighted  with  large  sperm 

candles  fastened  to  the  sides.     Should  D ...be 

designated  as  the  meeting  point  for  east  and  west  bound 
trains,  the  train  first  coming  had  to  wait  20  minutes, 
and  in  addition  to  this,  10  minutes  for  possible  varia- 
tion of  watches,  before  proceeding  to  the  next  station. 
Cord  wood  was  piled  at  different  places  along  the  tracks 
and  when  stops  were  made  to  supply  this  to  the  loco- 
motive the  fireman  and  brakeman  (and  frequently 
passengers)  performed  the  work. 

In  going  to  Circleville,  Chillicothe  and  Waverly  from 
the  northern  or  central  part  of  Ohio  we  were  obliged  to 
use  a  stage  coach  that  left  Columbus  daily  at  3:00 
o'clock  P.  M.  Hotel  accommodations  were  not  of  a 
high  order — not  first  class  by  any  means.  The  intru- 
sion of  unbidden  company  marching  in  squads  into 
one's  bedroom  had  to  be  endured  and  was  of  such 
common  occurrence  as  to  occasion  but  little  comment 


115 


or  surprise  beyond  the  unspeakable  words  of  the  tort- 
ured victim.  For  fire  in  one's  room  we  were  required  to 
put  up  an  extra  half  dollar,  and  such  a  thing — such  a 
luxury  as  a  modern  bath-room  was  practically  un- 
known. 

The  field  men  educated  and  instructed  the  agents — 
made  the  rates  and  forms,  and  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses were  the  companies  in  the  matter  of  underwirting. 
The  first  book  for  keeping  a  record  of  premium  receipts 
was  one  that  I  had  made  for  myself,  and  I  still  have  it 
and  keep  it  as  a  relic. 

During  the  38  years  that  I  was  in  the  service  of  General 
Agent  Downing  at  Erie,  Pa.  I  was  State  Agent  not  only 
for  the  Insurance  Company  of  North  America,  but  also 
for  the  Pennsylvania  Fire,  which  Company  afterwards 
moved  its  headquarters  to  Chicago,  and  its  place  in  the 
Erie  office  was  taken  by  the  Philadelphia  Underwriters. 
My  field  during  most  of  this  time  of  service  covered  the 
states  of  Ohio  and  West  Virginia.  For  a  number  of 
years  I  was  without  an  assistant  and  having  the  under- 
writing department,  the  local  agents,  and  the  adjust- 
ment of  losses  to  look  after,  any  of  my  friends  familiar 
with  these  duties  will  readily  admit  that  I  had  a  suffic- 
ient amount  of  work  on  my  hands  to  keep  me  busy  and 
out  of  mischief. 

When  the  General  Agency  of  the  Insurance  Company 
of  North  America  was  moved  from  Erie  to  Chicago  in 
1910,  it  meant  to  me  much  more  than  the  mere  severance 
of  business  relations — it  meant  the  breaking  of  family 
ties,  but  my  respect,  esteem  and  admiration  for  Assis- 
tant General  Agent  Johnson  opened  the  way,  with  the 
approval  of  General  Agent  Downing,  for  me  to  transfer 
my  loyalty  to  him  without  any  special  difficulty  or  em- 
barrassment. 


116 


I  have  been  a  member  of  every  state  organization  of 
Ohio  field  men  (the  Bureau  organization  excepted,)  and 
have  served  several  terms  as  President  and  also  several 
terms  as  Secretary.  I  am  also  a  member  (one  of  the 
original)  of  the  Northwestern  Fire  Underwriters  Asso- 
ciation— my  membership  antedating  that  of  any  other 
of  the  members,  and  am  one  of  the  original  members  of 
its  Society  of  Life  Members.  At  the  annual  meeting 
held  in  Columbus  in  December,  1915  I  was  honored 
with  the  Presidency  of  our  Ohio  Field  Club,  the  posi- 
tion coming  to  me  without  solicitation,  controversy  or 
opposition. 

For  a  year  or  more  along  in  the  seventies  I  was 
engaged  in  making  rates  in  Ohio  under  the  direction  of 
and  under  a  schedule  promulgated  by  the  National 
Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  reporting  my  findings  to 
Thomas  H.  Montgomery,  General  Agent  of  New  York. 

While  living  at  Lucerne  I  got  pleasure  in  fishing  in 
Owl  Creek  and  for  this  sport  my  equipment  consisted 
of  a  limb  of  a  tree  for  a  pole,  a  linen  thread  for  a  line  and 
a  bent  pin  for  a  hook.  This  stream  in  which  I  then 
fished  was  near  our  home,  a  stream  which  to  me  then 
looked  sufficiently  large  and  important  for  navigation 
but  which  has  since  practically  disappeared,  leaving 
few  if  any  traces  of  its  former  existance  and  importance. 
The  fascination  of  this  sport  has  clung  to  me  like  a  fixed 
habit  ever  since.  Later  on  in  life  I  became  infected 
with  the  golf  microbe  and  my  out  of  doors  recreation 
has  consisted  almost  wholly  of  playing  this  fascinating 
game. 

My  first  vote  was  cast  at  Bellville  in  the  spring  of 
1857  for  School  Directors,  when  it  was  challenged  by  a 
mercenary,  skinny  old  merchant  who  was  greatly  oppos- 
ed to  the  building  of  a  new  school  building,  which  was 


117 


ihe  issue — an  insult  which  I  have  neither  forgotten 
nor  entirely  forgiven. 

When  going  into  business  as  a  clerk  in  Bellville  in 
1856  and  for  years  thereafter,  the  only  daily  newspaper 
that  came  to  our  town  was  the  Sandusky  Register,  and 
but  one  copy  of  that.  During  Presidential  or  State 
political  campaigns  or  Sessions  of  Congress,  or  in  fact 
when  anything  of  unusual  interest  was  occurring  in  our 
country  it  was  the  custom  of  the  intelligent  male  citizens 
to  meet  regularly  in  our  store,  when  one  of  the  number 
(usually  Dr.  Smith)  would  read  aloud  for  the  benefit  of 
the  interested  audience. 

Up  to  and  prior  to  1856  there  was  very  little  money  in 
circulation  and  much  of  our  silver  was  of  English  or 
Canadian  coinage.  There  were  a  number  of  banks 
(so-called)  in  the  State,  and  counterfeit  and  worthless 
bank  notes  were  so  common  that  we  were  obliged  to 
examine  almost  every  bill  taken  in,  using  the  National 
Bank  Note  Detector  for  this  purpose  to  ascertain  not 
only  whether  it  was  genuine  or  not,  but  also  what  the 
discount  was  on  it.  Much  of  our  merchandise  was  ex- 
changed for  barter  or  country  produce,  of  which  we  took 
in  practically  everything  the  farmers  had  to  dispose  of. 
In  some  instances  we  accepted  notes  in  settlement  of 
accounts  and  then  traded  these  notes  for  horses,  which 
we  shipped  to  eastern  markets  and  sold  for  money,  with 
which  we  paid  bills  for  merchandise  bought  from  eastern 
jobbers. 

During  the  summer  of  1897,  accompanied  by  Rev. 
D.  J.  Meese  and  Mr.  John  W.  Wagner,  I  made  a  some- 
what extended  journey  through  Europe,  which  occu- 
pied about  four  months.  We  left  New  York  on  the 
Danish  S.  S.  Amerika  in  the  month  of  May  and  landed 
after  a  twelve  days  voyage  in  Christiania,  Norway.    On 


118 


the  nights  of  the  3rd,  4th  and  5th  of  July  we  were  300  or 
more  miles  beyond  the  Arctic  Circle — beyond  the  nor- 
thern coast  of  Iceland,  in  the  ''Land  of  the  Midnight 
Sun,"  when  we  saw  that  luminary  at  midnight  amid 
clouds  that  were  deeply,  beautifully  and  gorgeously 
tinted  with  almost  every  conceivable  color.  It  was  cer- 
tainly a  glorious  sight,  and  at  12:00  o'clock  midnight 
July  4th,  standing  on  the  upper  deck  of  the  S.  S.  Mira 
with  my  back  to  the  sun,  its  light  shining  squarely  upon 
the  face  of  my  open  Bible,  I  read  the  19th  Psalm. 

We  visited  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Belgium, 
Germany,  France,  Switzerland,  England,  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, Wales,  and  passed  through  the  western  part  of 
Austria-Hungary,  stopping  at  the  celebrated  Springs  of 
Carlsbad. 

I  took  with  me  on  this  trip  a  small  silk  American  flag 
which,  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Captain  of  the  Mira, 
had  a  conspicuous  place  on  our  ship's  table.  On  the 
Fourth  of  July  we  observed  and  celebrated  our  Indepen- 
dence Day  as  American  citizens,  and  near  midnight,  out 
in  the  open  sea,  the  passengers  and  crew  joining,  we  sang 
"America"  as  we  never  sang  it  before. 

About  9:00  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  July  3rd,  with 
the  aid  of  ropes  fastened  to  stanchions  driven  in  the 
crevices  of  the  rocks,  we  climbed  to  the  top  of  Nord-Kap 
— two  thousand  feet  above  the  waters  of  the  Arctic,  and 
at  11:00  o'clock  that  night  I  placed  my  little  American 
flag  on  the  base  of  a  granite  shaft — a  monolith  erected 
to  commemorate  a  visit  of  King  Oscar  of  Norway  and 
Sweden,  and  in  a  drizzling  rain  took  a  very  fair  kodak 
picture  of  it,  which  I  still  have  in  my  posession,  probably 
the  only  picture  of  the  kind  in  existence. 

The  captain  of  the  Mira,  who  had  been  sailing  up  and 
down  that  Norway  coast  for  seventeen  years,  said  to  me 


119 


that  he  had  never  before  seen  that  Northern  sky  so  beau- 
tiful as  it  was  on  that  night  of  July.  Facing,  and 
inspired  as  we  were  by  the  wonderful  and  indescribably 
beautiful  sight,  our  feelings  found  vent  in  singing  "Praise 
God,  from  Whom  All  Blessings  Flow." 

By  placing  colored  or  tinted  glass  over  the  lens  of  my 
kodak  I  succeeded  in  getting  some  fair  pictures  of  the 
Midnight  Sun,  which  I  had  been  told  was  an  impossible 
thing  to  do. 

Our  passenger  list  on  the  S.  S.  Mira  from  Bergen  to 
Nord-Kap  comprised  the  names  of  people  from  the 
United  States,  England,  Germany,  Italy,  France  and 
from  practically  every  nation  in  Europe.  I  was  assigned 
to  a  cabin  on  the  upper  deck  with  a  German  Duke  (I  do 
not  recall  his  name),  and  though  he  could  not  speak 
English  and  I  could  not  speak  German,  we  managed  by 
nods,  signs  and  gestures  to  get  along  quite  amicably  and 
comfortably,  and  when  the  time  came  for  us  to  part  he 
gave  evidence  of  having  formed  some  attachment  for 
me — something  I  would  not  permit  in  this  year  1920. 

On  a  Saturday  evening  while  journeying  northward  in 
the  Arctic  sea,  a  committee  consisting  of  three  English- 
men approached  me  and  asked  me  for  a  private  inter- 
view. It  seemed  they  had  ascertained  in  some  way  that 
one  of  our  party  was  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  it  was 
their  desire  to  observe  their  common  custom  and  have 
religious  services  conducted  on  the  ship  on  the  following 
morning,  Sunday.  Just  why  they  should  have  over- 
looked my  ministerial  companion  and  selected  me  as  the 
representative  of  that  sacred  office  is  something  that  I 
have  never  been  able  to  understand,  but  the  incident 
afforded  both  my  companion  and  myself  considerable 
amusement. 


120 


We  had  with  us  as  a  passenger  on  our  trip  across  the 
ocean,  Colonel  Savage,  a  fiction  writer  of  some  notoriety 
— the  author  of  "My  Unofficial  Wife,"  and  a  number  of 
other  books,  whom  we  found  to  be  a  man  of  wide  infor- 
mation and  a  remarkable  conversationalist.  He,  with 
his  wife,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Russian  nobility, 
were  on  their  way  to  that  country  to  spend  the  summer, 
and  he,  for  the  additional  purpose  of  hunting  in  the 
mountains.  I  spent  many  pleasant  hours  with  the 
Colonel,  who  gave  me  much  valuable  information  rel- 
ative to  the  countries  we  expected  to  visit. 

I  visited  Lapland  and  with  a  number  of  other  travelers 
made  the  trip  back  into  the  country  to  a  community  or 
settlement  of  Laplanders  and  their  dogs,  where  was 
corralled  a  large  herd  of  reindeer.  By  signs  and  gestures 
I  succeeded  in  making  an  old  female  Lapp,  who  was 
seated  on  some  loose  straw  in  a  wigwam  making  thread 
from  the  sinews  of  a  reindeer,  understand  that  I  wanted 
some  reindeer  milk.  Her  husband  (supposedly)  caught 
a  cow  with  a  lasso — held  it  tight  with  its  face  against  his 
body  while  the  old  woman  succeeded  in  getting  about  a 
tea-cupful  of  milk,  which  I  drank  from  a  wooden  bowl 
that  certainly  was  far  from  clean  to  start  with  and  was 
made  no  more  sanitary  as  she  wiped  it  out  with  a  rag 
that  served  as  a  door-mat  of  her  smoky  wigwam.  None 
of  the  other  travelers  with  me  who  were  spectators  and 
witnessed  what  I  did  seemed  to  have  any  special  fond- 
ness for  milk  just  at  the  time,  so  I  alone  had  this  ex- 
perience in  Lapland.  These  people  are  not  troubled 
with  modern  germ  problems. 

At  Bergen,  Norway  we  visited  a  leper  hospital — a 
government  institution — saw  and  conversed  with  a 
number  of  these  hopeless,  afflicted  people.  There  are 
three  such  hospitals  in  Norway. 


121 


At  a  whaling  station  on  the  west  coast  of  Norway  we 
saw  at  close  range  a  number  of  freshly  caught  whales 
that  had  been  pulled  up  on  the  sandy  beach  and  from 
the  whaling  seamen  we  learned  a  good  deal  about  how 
they  were  caught  and  killed — the  disposition  that  was 
made  of  their  huge  carcasses  and  the  various  uses  they 
were  put  to. 

From  Scotland  I  made  a  trip  to  the  Isle  of  Man — the 
home  of  the  Manxman — the  land  of  strange  legend,  of 
curious  myths,  and  tailless  cats.  I  crossed  the  Island 
from  Douglass,  the  capitol,  to  the  old  Castle  on  the  west 
coast,  passed  twice  the  home  of  Hall  Caine,  traveled 
over  the  Island  from  the  south  to  the  zinc  mines  in  the 
north,  where  is  said  to  be  operated  the  largest  water- 
power  wheel  in  the  world — seventy- two  feet  across.  In 
Douglass  I  saw  hedges  of  fuchias — some  the  size  of  small 
trees,  eight  and  ten  feet  high.  This  beautiful  city  is 
located  on  a  charming  circular  Bay  and  is  a  popular 
resort  for  English  people.  The  beach  is  admirably 
adapted  for  bathing  purposes  and  bathers  are  hauled 
into  and  out  of  the  water  in  closed  vans. 

After  returning  to  Mansfield  from  my  European  trip 
I  listened  to  some  flattering  invitations  to  deliver  a 
couple  or  more  public  lectures,  and  in  an  unguarded 
moment  I  yielded  to  the  temptation  and  fell.  The  few 
appearances  I  made  in  this  capacity  were  not  hailed 
with  that  enthusiasm  I  had  expected  and  receiving 
no  urgent  return  calls  I  retired  from  the  platform, 
finding  comfort  and  consolation  in  the  experience  of 
another  traveler  and  lecturer.  "In  fame's  temple  there 
are  always  to  be  found  a  niche  for  rich  dunces — impor- 
tunate scoundrels  and  successful  butchers  of  the  human 
race." 


122 


The  query  will  naturally  arise — what  has  all  this  to 
do  with  Insurance  history?  At  first  sight  it  would 
appear  that  they  bear  but  little  if  any  relation  to  each 
other,  but  during  all  these  years  my  insurance  business 
and  my  outside  activities  have  run  in  parallel  lines. 
There  is  much  truth  in  the  saying:  "Satan  will  find 
work  for  idle  hands  to  do."  As  a  general  proposition 
the  men  who  devote  their  time,  their  energies  and  activ- 
ities to  different  and  worthy  causes  get  the  most  out  of 
life.  No  person  can  without  loss  and  injury,  confine  the 
mind  and  thoughts  to  a  single  narrow  groove  or  chan- 
nel. To  keep  both  body  and  mind  active  and  alert — to 
keep  character  well  balanced  and  rounded  out  they  must 
be  interested  and  employed  in  diversified  objects. 
Approaching,  as  I  am,  my  eighty-third  mile  stone,  I  can 
say  with  the  confidence  of  experience  that  my  good 
health — my  ambition  and  my  ability  to  work  lie  within 
the  possibilities  of  the  average  man.  They  may  cost 
self-denial  and  sacrifice,  but  they  are  worth  the  coin. 
And  yet — "When  all  is  summed  up,  a  man  never  speaks 
of  himself  without  loss — his  accusations  of  himself  are 
always  believed — his  praises  never." 

In  the  final  adjustment  of  all  things,  whether  the  little 
good  I  have  done  in  the  world  will  outweigh  all  that  may 
be  placed  over  against  it  is  something  that  gives  me  no 
little  concern,  but  I  must  leave  the  determination  of  all 
this  with  my  Heavenly  Father  who  I  am  sure  will  deal 
justly  and  mercifully. 

In  conclusion  I  desire  to  say  that  in  my  long  business 
career  I  have  never  wilfully  nor  knowingly  injured  or 
done  an  injustice  to  any  of  my  brethren.  It  has  long 
been  my  belief  that  the  practice  of  the  Golden  Rule  is 
the  safest  and  surest  means  to  happiness  and  success. 
That  I  have  made  mistakes  and  many  of  them  I  must 


123 


admit,  but  I  trust  that  in  the  sweet  spirit  of  charity  none 
of  these  are  or  will  be  laid  up  against  me. 


Gangs 

One  of  the  most  inviting  fields  for  criminal  plunder  is 
fire  insurance.  The  risk  of  detection  and  punishment 
are  reduced  to  a  minimum,  for  the  reason  that  all  evi- 
dences of  guilt  are  commonly  destroyed  in  the  fire.  The 
booty  comes  with  a  remarkable  degree  of  certainty. 

Arson  is  not  an  uncommon  crime — is  not  confined  to 
any  one  section  of  our  country,  neither  is  it  confined 
wholly  to  individual  action.  In  some  of  our  large  cities, 
namely  New  York  and  Chicago,  there  have  been  gangs 
organized  for  the  single  purpose  of  burning  properties 
and  defrauding  the  insurance  companies.  In  many 
cases  the  losses  have  been  adjusted  by  members  of  the 
gang  and  large  amounts  of  money  fraudulently  taken 
from  the  insurance  companies.  These  operations, 
however,  have  not  been  confined  wholly  to  our  large 
cities.  One  of  the  most  active,  efficient  and  pernicious 
of  these  was  located  in  the  northwestern  section  of  our 
own  State. 

A  full  and  complete  history  of  this  gang  would  read 
more  like  an  improbable  detective  story  than  a  state- 
ment of  facts.  Just  when,  where  and  by  whom  it  had 
its  conception  is  not  known,  but  the  fact  that  it  main- 
tained an  active  existence  for  a  number  of  years — collec- 
ted from  the  fire  insurance  companies  an  amount  esti- 
mated at  $1,500,000.00— had  a  membership  of  eighty 
men — burned  scores  of  properties  and  collected  the  insur- 
ance money  without  detection,  would  indicate  executive 
and  organizing  abilities  of  no  mean  order. 


124 


The  center  of  its  activities  were  Fayette,  Alvordton 
and  West  Unity,  but  it  operated  in  three  counties  in 
Northwestern  Ohio  and  in  two  adjoining  counties  in 
Michigan  and  Indiana.  Their  practices  were  reduced 
to  a  science.  Men  of  wealth  and  influence  and  good 
reputation  were  members  and  if  any  time  any  one  of 
them  should  fall  under  suspicion,  the  others  were  able 
to  cower  by  threats,  any  attempts  at  exposure. 

Mr.  George  E.  Letcher  was  the  guiding  spirit,  in  him 
was  the  brain  of  this  gang.  He  was  the  superior  of  all 
of  his  associates  in  cunning  and  in  designing  and  plan- 
ning. He  had  been  a  prominent  merchant  in  Bryan  and 
had  moved  from  there  to  Fayette  where  he  owned  and 
operated  a  bank,  a  drug  store,  an  elevator,  a  saw  mill 
and  numerous  other  properties. 

Conditions  were  so  bad  and  the  outlook  became  so 
alarming  that  a  number  of  the  companies  withdrew  from 
that  section  of  the  State,  and  others  cancelled  all  their 
outstanding  risks.  This  fact  did  not  however  produce 
any  decrease  in  the  number  of  fires. 

The  scheme  for  burning  properties  were  commonly 
planned  in  a  back  room  of  Letcher's  Fayette  Bank.  The 
culminating  crime  came  with  a  fire  which  burned  a  num- 
ber of  buildings  and  stocks  at  Montpelier,  Ohio.  Two 
members,  who  were  to  be  the  direct  beneficiaries  refused 
to  divide  their  usufruct  with  the  party  starting  the  fire. 
The  scheme  for  this  crime  had  been  planned  by  Letcher 
and  the  agent  of  the  gang. 

Mr.  Jack  Page,  commonly  called  "Old  Jack,"  was  the 
active  and  operating  agent,  helped  to  plan  the  various 
fires  and  put  the  plans  in  execution.  He  came  from 
England  to  America  in  1842,  and  in  1850  settled  on  a 
farm  in  Fulton  County,  where  he  prospered  and  acquired 
some  property.     He  was  commonly  regarded  as  a  good 


125 


citizen — was  a  quiet,  unassuming  person  and  bore  a 
good  reputation  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived. 
For  some  unknown  reasons,  suspicions  were  entertained 
against  him  in  connection  with  the  MontpeHer  fire. 

In  January  1893  he  was  induced  to  visit  a  couple  of 
"old  friends"  in  Toledo,  where,  after  a  long  interview, 
he  made  a  full  confession  in  the  presence  of  these  friends 
and  a  representative  of  the  Fire  Marshal's  Department. 
The  successes  of  the  gang  and  their  ability  to  establish 
an  alibi  and  defeat  prosecution  had  emboldened  them  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  decided  to  dispense  with  the 
services  of  Mr.  Page  or  at  least  to  no  longer  allow  him 
to  share  in  their  plunder.  This  action  on  their  part 
grieved  the  old  man — embittered  him  against  the  other 
members  and  probably  was  the  reason  why  he  made  the 
confession. 

In  the  following  February,  during  the  term  of  Court 
at  Bryan,  w^hile  old  Jack  was  being  tried  for  the  Mont- 
pelier  crime,  he  made  a  full  and  lengthy  confession — 
changed  his  attitude  and  became  the  leading  witness 
for  the  State.  During  the  following  May  other  cases 
were  presented  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  Williams  County 
and  a  number  of  parties  were  indicted.  These  were 
followed  by  investigations  made  by  the  Fire  Marshal's 
Department  in  Fulton  and  Lucas  Counties,  aggregating 
seventy  in  all. 

Mr.  George  Letcher  fled  the  country — moved  from 
Fayette  to  South  Dakota,  thence  to  Minneapolis,  Minn, 
thence  to  San  Jose,  California  and  fires  at  each  location 
marked  his  trail  across  the  country.  In  November, 
1904  he  was  arrested  in  California  and  brought  back  to 
Ohio,  tried  in  the  Fulton  County  Court  for  complicity 
in  these  fires,  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  a 
term  of  five  years. 


126 


In  some  instances  the  policies  involved  had  been 
issued  directly  to  Letcher,  while  in  others  they  had  been 
made  payable  to  him  as  mortgagee. 

The  Prosecuting  Attorneys  of  both  Williams  and 
Fulton  Counties  co-operated  in  these  prosecutions  to  the 
fullest  extent  and  rendered  material  service  to  the  Fire 
Marshal  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  cases. 
Twenty-seven  of  these  guilty  parties  were  sentenced  to 
spend  a  few  years  in  a  public  institution  in  Columbus 
where  striped  clothes  designated  them  as  criminals  and 
served  as  a  constant  reminder  to  them  of  their  guilt. 

The  successful  prosecution  and  conviction  of  these 
criminals  and  the  breaking  up  of  this  organized  gang 
reflect  special  credit  on  the  administration  of  Fire  Mar- 
shal Hollenbeck. 

The  Law  of  Rest 

There  are  certain  great  and  immutable  laws  that 
govern  in  the  affairs  of  the  universe  and  with  equal  truth 
and  force  in  the  affairs  of  men  which  cannot  be  violated 
nor  disregarded  with  impunity.  Nature  is  inexorable 
in  her  demands  and  the  highest  degree  of  happiness  that 
can  come  to  us,  is  the  reflex  of  being  true  to  ourselves 
and  of  the  good  services  we  render  to  others,  an  eternal 
truth  which  we  are  slow  to  learn  and  appropriate  to 
ourselves.  It  is  true  that  our  benificient  deeds  are  often 
rewarded  with  base  coin,  but  in  the  long  run  they  receive 
grateful  recompense. 

All  right  doing  brings  with  it  its  own  reward,  while  to 
all  wrong  doing  a  penalty  is  attached  from  which  there 
is  no  escape.  If  we  commit  a  wrong  act  against  our- 
selves, our  families,  our  fellowman,  or  against  society  we 
will,  sooner  or  later,  and  in  some  form  or  other  have  to 
face  the  penalty,  and  the  man  who  governs  his  life  and 

127 


conduct  in  this  belief  will  avoid  many  causes  for  repent- 
ance and  sorrow. 

Regardless  of  any  beliefs  we  may  hold  or  of  any  theo- 
ories  we  may  advance,  the  necessity  for  recreation  and 
a  "Day  of  Rest"  is  ineradicably  implanted  in  things 
both  animate  and  inaminate.  Divest  the  subject  of  all 
its  religious  associations  and  treat  it  from  either  a  hu- 
manitarian or  a  scientific  stand  point  and  it  will  still 
assume  a  significance  not  commonly  accorded  to  it. 
Experiments  made  by  eminent  scientists  of  Europe  with 
their  soldiers  in  service — with  their  workingmen — with 
their  domestic  animals  used  in  the  performance  of  labor, 
with  locomotives  and  with  machinery,  have  conclusively 
proven  the  existence  of  a  law  demanding  rest  at  regular 
intervals.  Further  experiments  were  made  by  observ- 
ing every  sixth  and  others  by  observing  every  eighth 
day,  but  the  results  were  such  as  to  convince  these  scien- 
tists that  there  w^as  a  fixed  and  an  unchangeable  law 
making  one  day  in  every  seven  the  fixed  and  determined 
day  for  rest,  and  that  its  observance  was  essential  to 
human  happiness  and  efficiency.  The  question  wall,  I 
presume,  naturally  arise,  "What  has  this  to  do  with 
either  history  or  insurance?"  It  is  thrown  in  here  with 
the  injunction — "Think  on  these  things." 

Whatever  our  inclinations  are — whatever  our  beliefs 
may  be,  these  will  neither  alter  nor  change  the  fact  that 
such  a  Law  is  in  force  and  to  an  appreciable  extent 
controls  our  lives  and  usefulness — our  minds  and  our 
bodies. 

It  has  been  well  for  me  to  think  often  and  seriously  of 
my  insignificance — that  I  am  only  an  atom  in  this  world 
and  as  such  atom  but  a  minute  part  of  the  great  universe 
created  and  controlled  by  an  Infinite  Power  we  call  God. 
Such  thoughts  play  havoc  with  my  egoism. 


128 


Cleveland 

No  records  are  available  showing  either  the  date  when 
the  first  Fire  Insurance  Agency  was  established  in  Cleve- 
land, or  who  was  the  first  Agent.  Mr.  Samuel  Cowles 
was  appointed  Agent  of  one  of  the  Hartford  Companies 
in  1819.  In  1846  the  population  of  the  city  was  10,000 
and  the  Companies  were  represented  in  eight  local 
agencies — enough  to  not  only  write  all  the  risks  offered, 
but  to  bring  about  the  usual  results — sharp  competition 
and  a  general  demoralization  of  the  business.  Hearken- 
ing to  the  cry  "Watchman,  what  of  the  night?" — the 
local  agents  met  on  the  22nd  day  of  June  of  that  year 
and  subscribed  to  the  following  agreement: 

Rates  of  Premiums  of  Fire  Risks 

Established  by  the  Insurance  Agents  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  June  22,  1846. 

Dwelling  Houses 

1st  A  building  occupied  entirely  as  a  dwelling  con- 
structed of  stone  or  brick,  with  chimneys  standing 
upon  the  same  foundation;  stoves  and  pipes,  if 
any,  safely  placed  and  well  secured,  one  hundred 
feet  or  more  distant  from  other  buildings $  .50 

2nd       If  endangered  by  other  buildings 60 

3rd        If  in  a  row  of  three  and  not  more  than  six 

like  buildings 1.00 

4th  A  frame  building,  occupied  entirely  as  a  dwell- 
ing; chimneys,  stoves  and  pipes  as  in  first  class; 
one  hundred  feet  or  more  distant  from  other 
buildings 62  J^ 

5th       If  adjoining  or  within  ten  feet  of  another  like 

building 85 


129 


6th        If    adjoining  or   within   ten    feet  of  two  Hke 

buildings $1.00 

7th       If  in  a  row  of  three  and  not  more  than  six  like 

buildings 1-25 

8th       If  occupied  as  stores,  or  some  of  them  so  oc- 
cupied, 25  cents  to  be  added  to  the  above  rates. 
If  a  chimney  or  hearth  stands  upon  beams,  25 
cents  to  be  added  to  the  above  premiums. 
9th       Taverns  and  hotels  in  the  country,  distant  one 
hundred  feet  or  more  from  the  barn  and  stable, 

and  no  other  exposure - 1.50 

A  proper  addition  to  this   premium   for  any 
other  exposure. 

10th       Tavern  barns  and  contents 2.00 

11th       Dwellings  of  the  first  class,  in  the  country 623^ 

12th  Dwellings  of  the  second  class,  in  the  country  .75 
13th  Dwellings  of  the  fourth  class,  in  the  country  .75 
14th       Dwellings  of  the  fifth  class,  in  the  country....      1,00 


Cleveland 

Bank  Street 

Wooden   buildings   from   Superior  to  St.  Clair 

streets  $2.00 

Brick   building   corner  of  St.   Clair   and    Bank 

streets 1.50 

Seneca  Street 

West  side,  from  Superior  street  to  St.  Clair  street  2.00 

East  side,  from  Superior  street  to  St.  Clair  street  1.25 

From  Lyon's  to  Plane  Factory 1.50 

Plane  Factory 3.00 

Warehouses 

B  C 

Gilletts  and  to  Canal $1.50  SI. 25 

Canal  to  Superior  Lane 2.00  1.50 

Superior  Lane  to  Scotts 2.50  2.00 


130 


St.  Clair  to  Winslows $2.00    $2.00 

Harney  &  Co.  to  B.  F.  Smith  &  Co 1.75      1.50 

A.  Seymour  &  Co.  to  Levi  Johnson's 1.50      1.25 

Hotels 

American  House $1.25 

FrankHn  House 1.25 

Weddell  House 1.25 

St.  Clair  House. 2.00 

United  States  Hotel 2.50 

We,  the  undersigned  Agents  of  Insurance  Companies 
set  against  our  respective  names,  hereby  agree  to  be 
governed  by  the  above  table  of  Premiums;  and  further 
that  in  no  case  shall  risks  be  taken  for  a  less  rate  than 
is  above  specified. 

J.  L.  Weatherly,  North  Western  Insurance  Co. 

Pelican  Mutual  Insurance  Co. 
N.  C.  Winslow,  Howard  Insurance  Co. 

National  Insurance  Company  of  New  York 
J.  Morrison,  Columbus  Insurance  Company 

M.  B.  Scott,  Williamsburg  Insurance  Company 

C.  O.  Carlton,  Aetna  Insurance  Company 

Protection  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 
H.  F.  Brayton,  New  York  Equitable  Insurance  Co. 

H.  &  E.  Gaylord,  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company 
Lawrence  &  Wright,       Mutual  Safety  Ins.  Co.  of  N.  Y. 

In  rating  the  different  properties,  the  agents  used  the 
"Block  System" — a  system  that  had  never  been  before, 
nor  has  ever  since  been  used,  so  far  as  is  known. 

To  embrace  all  the  risks  located  between  two  streets 
and  give  them  the  one  and  same  estimate,  was  a  quick 
and  easy  way  of  rating  them.  It  eliminated  all  com- 
plaints of  favoritism  and  discrimination. 


131 


The  Fire  Insurance  Business  was  treated  as  a  side 
line.  Mr.  C.  C.  Carlton  who  represented  the  Aetna  and 
who  practically  did  the  leading  business,  was  a  mer- 
chant, and  a  sign  at  the  entrance  or  the  front  door  of 
his  store  gave  notice  that  his  ofHce  hours  were  from  10 
to  12  A.  M.  and  3  to  5  P.  M. 

Personal  solicitation  of  business  was  unknown  and  it 
would  have  been  regarded  as  unprofessional  and  unbe- 
coming to  the  dignity  of  the  profession.  Persons  desiring 
insurance  were  expected  to  visit  the  agent's  office — 
make  their  applications,  secure  their  policies  and  pay 
for  them  as  they  would  in  purchasing  drafts  at  the  bank. 

The  Fire  Insurance  Business  had  practically  the  same 
standing  in  the  community  as  any  of  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. 

A  meeting  of  the  Underwriters  of  Cleveland  was  held 
at  the  office  of  the  State  Fire  Insurance  Company,  on 
the  evening  of  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  March,  1866, 
under  the  following  call : 

The  Undersigned  Insurance  Underwriters  doing  busi- 
ness in  the  City  of  Cleveland  and  vicinity  agree  to  join 
a  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
a  uniform  tariff  of  rates: 

(Signed)      Aaron  Clark, 

Runnells  &  Manchester, 

Mr.  Hessemueller, 

Geo.  A.  Tisdale, 

L.  D.  Hudson, 

S.  S.  Coe, 

H.  F.  Brayton, 

Jno.  &  G.  Jennings, 

Fox  &  Witter, 

E.  C.  Rouse, 

J.  H.  Underwood, 

J.  Mueller, 

C.  C.  Baldwin, 


132 


On  motion  the  rates  as  printed  were  adopted. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters 
held  at  the  office  of  the  Sun  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
on  Tuesday,   February  12,  1867,  the  following  officers 
were  elected: 

President S.  S.  Coe, 

Vice-President B.    Seymour, 

Treasurer E.  Hessenmueller, 

r     E.  C.  Rouse 
Executive  Committee        <  James  W.  Lee 

[  G.  A.  Bemis 
Mr.  Henry  M.  Brooks  knew  personally  and  trans- 
acted business  with  some  of  the  agents  mentioned.  He 
commenced  as  a  local  agent  in  1866  and  in  1868,  he  had 
made  such  a  success  of  his  agency  as  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  NewYork  Underwriters  Insurance  Company, 
of  which  he  was  then  appointed  Special  Agent — hence  in 
this  year — 1920 — he  is  celebrating  his  52nd  year  as  a 
Field  Man. 

For  a  number  of  years  he  traveled  for  the  London 
Assurance  Company,  but  of  late  years  he  has  been 
manager  for  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  for 
Northern  Ohio.  He  is  a  charter  member  of  "Honored 
Associates."  Among  his  cherished  possessions  he  still 
has  his  original  expense  book,  containing  a  statement 
of  his  traveling  expenses  and  copies  of  his  reports  to  the 
company  on  Youngstown,  Warren  and  Akron. 

Chillicothe 

In  anewcountry  where  the  buildings  are  generally  con- 
structed of  wood,  losses  by  fire  have  been  frequent  and 
excessive  and  even  conflagrations  have  not  been  un- 
known.    Even  in  our  own  State  these  have  not  been  an 


133 


exception  to  the  general  rule.  One  of  the  most  serious 
disasters  of  this  kind  within  our  borders,  occurred  in 
Chillicothe,  in  April,  1852,  destroying  more  than  350 
buildings  and  cost  the  Aetna  Insurance  Company 
$102,000.  Chillicothe,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the 
first  and  for  many  years  the  Capitol  of  our  common- 
wealth. Much  of  the  property  destroyed  was  uninsured 
and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  City  fully  recovered 
from  the  loss. 

Cincinnati 

Fortunately  a  few  brief  sketches  of  the  early  history 
of  Fire  Insurance  in  Cincinnati  have  been  preserved. 
Its  excellent  facilities  for  manufacturing  and  its  superior 
advantages  for  the  distribution  of  merchandise  over  a 
large  area  of  territory  attracted  Eastern  capital  and 
capitalists  and  these  in  connection  with  the  enterprise 
and  public  spirit  of  its  citizens,  made  the  city  at  that 
time  the  leading  business  center  of  the  great  middle  west. 

Largely  owing  to  the  lack  of  facilities  for  extinguish- 
ing fires,  the  investment  of  funds  in  fire  insurance  stocks 
did  not  appeal  to  the  capitalists.  But  the  city  had 
grown  and  property  values  had  so  increased  that  in 
1816,  a  local  company  known  as  the  Cincinnati  Insur- 
ance Company  was  organized  to  insure  against  loss  from 
fire,  but  having  no  experience  as  a  guide,  it  soon  ran 
upon  unseen  reefs,  leaving  but  little  salvage  from  its 
wreckage. 

A  company  with  headquarters  at  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky did  quite  an  extensive  and  profitable  business — 
had  for  some  years  practically  a  monopoly  of  it  in  Cin- 
cinnati, and  its  profits  were  so  phenomenal  that  the 
management  decided   to  accept   a    "sure    thing"    for 

134 


themselves,  by  a  division  of  the  surplus  rather  than  take 
chances  with  the  uncertainties  of  further  operations. 

A  few  years  later,  a  stock  company  was  organized 
with  Cincinnati  capital  and  with  very  flattering  prom- 
ises of  success,  but  owing  to  dissensions  among  its  stock- 
holders and  its  inharmonious  management,  it  passed  out 
of  existence  early  in  its  fitful  career. 

The  following  rules  relative  to  additional  insurance 
and  the  payment  of  premiums  were  adopted  and  for  a 
time  were  observed. 

''When  the  privilege  of  further  insurance  is  asked  for, 
it  may  be  granted  but  only  for  a  specific  sum  and  the 
practice  of  granting  privilege  of  further  insurance  by 
agencies  shall  be  discontinued." 

"All  fire  premiums  shall  be  paid  in  cash  or  its  equiv- 
alent on  the  delivery  of  the  policy  and  in  no  case  shall 
the  fire  premiums  be  charged  to  account. 

When  the  Cincinnati  Equitable  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany was  organized  in  1826,  the  city  limits  were  defined 
as  being  from  the  Ohio  River  to  7th  St.,  and  from  Eggles- 
ton  Ayenue  to  Central  Avenue.  A  census. taken  at  that 
time  gave  the  population  of  Cincinnati  as  16,230,  and 
the  city  as  being  made  up  of 

Four  Story  Buildings 1 7 

Three  Story  Buildings 146 

Two  Story  Buildings.... 1682 

One  Story  Buildings 650 

Total .2495 

The  Cincinnati  Equitable  Insurance  Company  has 
had  an  honorable  and  a  successful  career  and  still  occu- 
pies a  prominent  position  in  the  business  interests  of  the 
"Queen  City"  which  has  also  been  widely  known  as  the 
"Paris  of  America." 


135 


The  fire  engines  of  the  Cincinnati  Department  have 
long  held  high  rank  for  their  power  and  efficiency,  but 
the  one  branch  of  their  Pubhc  Service,  which  stands  out 
by  itself — prominent  and  unsurpassed — is  their  Salvage 
Corps,  organized  and  managed  by  that  brave  and  intell- 
igent official,  Capt.  J.  J.  Conway,  whose  good  name  is 
known  and  whose  valuable  work  has  received  recognition 
throughout  our  country. 

Just  how  many  stock  Fire  Insurance  Companies  have 
been  organized  in  Cincinnati,  cannot,  without  consider- 
able research  be  determined,  but  fifty  would,  it  seems, 
be  a  conservative  estimate.  In  1871,  there  were  thirty 
three  local  Companies  in  that  city,  and  in  1873 — two 
years  later — this  number  had  been  reduced  to  twenty 
three,  and  of  these,  two  only  are  now  doing  business  and 
these  two  are  operating  under  one  management. 

If  the  graves  of  these  departed  companies  could  be  ar- 
tistically arranged  they  would  make  a  picturesque 
cemetery  and  one  worthy  of  a  monument  bearing  the 
inscription : 

In  Memoriam 

Respectfully  Dedicated 

in 

Commemoration  of  the  Mistaken  Beliefs 

that  the 

Fire  Insurance  Business  was  a  Gold  Mine 

Yielding  up  its 

Hidden  Treasures 

at  the  waving  of  some  magic  wand 

but  instead  has  led  us 

to  disaster  and  untimely  death. 

In  Terrorem. 

136 


Dayton 

Owing  to  its  own  local  companies,  Dayton,  for  many 
years  was,  and  rightly,  regarded  as  an  Insurance  Cen- 
ter for  Stock  Fire  Insurance.  A  number  of  these  com- 
panies were  organized  and  conducted  their  operations 
with  credit  and  success.  Their  managements  were  in 
the  hands  of  careful,  successful  and  conservative  business 
men  and  these  organizations  were  regarded  with  satis- 
faction by  their  stockholders  and  in  high  esteem  by  the 
citizens  of  that  City. 

The  following  Companies  re-insured  their  outstanding 
risks  and  retired  from  the  field  with  honor  and  without 
loss  to  their  stockholders: 

Cooper — re-insured  in  the  North  British  and  Mercantile 
Dayton — re-insured  in  the  Home  of  New  York 
Firemen — re-insured  in  the  National  of  Connecticut 
Miami  Valley — re-insured  intheNationalof  Connecticut 
Ohio    Insurance    Company — re-insured    in    the    North 

British  and  Mercantile. 

The  Columbia  was  organized  in  1881  and  has  since 
maintained  an  important  place  in  the  insurance  business 
in  Ohio.  It  would  be  difficult  to  dissociate  its  name 
from  that  of  Mr.  O.  I.  Gunckel,  who  has  been  its  Sec- 
retary and  General  Manager,  and  who  has  been  closely 
and  actively  identified  with  its  history  since  its  organi- 
zation. 

The  Teutonia  was  organized  in  1865  and  its  position 
in  the  family  of  fire  insurance  companies  has  been  some- 
what unique  and  has  had  a  clientage  of  its  own  among 
the  smaller  insurers  throughout  the  State,  and  has  had 
an  exceptionally  low  loss  ratio.  It  has  always  been  the 
policy  of  this  Company  to  conduct  its  affairs  along  safe 
and  conservative  lines.  During  the  late  world  war  the 
Company  changed  its  name  to  the  Reliable  Insurance 
Company. 


137 


Mansfield 

Mansfield  has  long  been  recognized  by  the  Citizens  of 
Ohio  as  an  Insurance  Center.  At  the  present  time 
there  are  six  Mutual  Companies,  including  the  Masonic 
Accident,  with  home  offices  here.  The  oldest  of  these 
is  the  Richland  Mutual,  which  was  organized  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1850.  Mr.  J.  H.  Cook  assisted  in  the  organiza- 
tion and  served  as  its  President  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  During  its  seventy  years  of  continual 
and  successful  business  experience  it  has  had  but  five 
Presidents,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Hiram  R.  Smith,  lived  to 
a  remarkable  age  and  whose  span  of  life  was  99  years 
and  10  months.  During  his  incumbency  of  this  office 
he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Company 
and  by  his  right  judgement  and  conservative  methods 
contributed  materially  to  the  success,  good  name  and 
public  confidence  of  the  organization.  His  son  Rich- 
mond Smith,  (better  known  as  Dick)  entered  the  service 
of  the  Company  in  1870  and  was  elected  its  Secretary 
in  1874,  since  which  time  he  has  been  its  Secretary, 
General  Manager,  Special  Agent  and  Adjuster.  The 
Company  has  always  maintained  a  fixed  policy  in  the 
conduct  of  its  business  and  has  operated  along  conser- 
vative lines  and  has  been  governed  very  largely  by  its 
past  experiences.  It  has  steered  clear  of  all  alluring 
and  untried  schemes.  It  is  a  matter  of  pride  to  the 
officers  of  this  Company  that  in  its  long  history  no  stain 
of  dishonor  rests  upon  it. 

The  Mansfield  Mutual  of  which  Mr.  J.  M.  Cook  is 
Secretary,  was  organized  in  1876  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Emmin- 
ger,  who  in  some  respects  stood  in  a  class  by  himself. 
He  had  certain  strong  characteristics  as  well  as  will 
power.  Many  of  our  Field  men  and  local  agents  will 
remember  him  for  his  jovial  and  genial  nature — his  big- 

138 


ness  and  kindness  of  heart  and  his  ever  wilHngness  to 
help  others.  He  was  the  Company's  Secretary  until 
the  time  of  his  death. 

The  other  Companies  are  the 

Merchants  &  Mfrs  Mutual  G.  W.  DeYarmon,  Secretary 
Lumbermans  Mutual  W.  H.  G.  Kegg,  Secretary 

Great  American  Mutual  H.  R.  Endly,  Secretary 

Masonic  Accident  E.  G.  Robinson,  Secretary 

Zanesville 

Probably  the  oldest  fire  insurance  register  in  Ohio  is  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Guthrie  of  Zanesville,  and  is 
of  the  size  and  shape  of  ordinary  foolscap  paper.  A  Mr. 
Dillon,  who  was  the  local  agent  of  the  Aetna  Insurance 
Company  in  that  city,  made  this  register  and  had  it 
bound,  and  the  first  entry  made  in  it  was  with  a  goose- 
quill  pen,  in  a  beautiful  round  hand.  This  entry  was 
Policy  No.  1  for  the  sum  of  $2500.00  for  the  term  of 
one  year,  covering  on  a  stock  of  merchandise  contained 
in  a  frame  building  at  the  rate  of  45  cents  and  dated 
January  23,  1816.  Another  policy  was  issued  by  him  to 
Mr.  N.  W.  Graham  for  the  sum  of  $1000.00,  divided  as 
follows:  $900.00  covering  on  300  barrels  of  flour  and 
$100.00  on  five  casks  of  tallow,  for  the  term  of  three 
months,  while  contained  in  a  frame  warehouse,  premium 
$4.40.  This  building  is  still  standing  on  a  bank  of  the 
canal. 

Among  Agent  Dillon's  papers  was  found  a  letter  from 
the  Home  office  at  Hartford  in  response  to  an  order  for 
policies,  saying — "Your  order  has  been  received  and 
policies  are  tied  up  and  ready  to  send,  but  we  know  of  no 
way  to  get  them  to  you."     Evidently  they  were  waiting 


139 


to  find  some  party  or  person  going  to  Zanesville  by 
whom  they  might  send  them. 

The  last  entry  in  this  old  register  was  Policy  No.  234, 
issued  February  27,  1847.  So  in  the  31  years  it  seems 
that  he  issued  through  his  agency  234  policies.  When 
policies  expired  and  were  not  renewed,  it  was  his  custom 
to  mark  them  "Cancelled." 

While  we  who  are  alive  and  active  in  the  business 
today— while  we  occupy  the  center  of  the  stage,  we 
should  not  be  unmindful  of  the  actors  who  have  pre- 
ceded us — who  have  played  their  parts  and  passed 
behind  the  curtain  to  respond  to  no  more  applause  or 
encores — to  be  seen  and  heard  no  more.  The  play, 
which  is  a  long  one  with  many  scenes,  acts  and  players, 
cannot  be  understood  without  some  knowledge  of  its 
history  and  of  the  men  who  have  preceded  us. 

For  a  number  of  years,  three  Agents,  Mr.  A.  C.  Ross, 
Mr.  G.  W.  Thompson  and  Mr.  Joseph  Crosby,  prac- 
tically controlled  the  Fire  Insurance  business  in  Zanes- 
ville. Each  maintained  his  own  office,  but  they  all 
worked  in  perfect  harmony  like  a  nicely  adjusted 
machine.  They  had  no  written  agreement  between 
them  and  neither  of  them  would  take  a  risk  from  either 
of  the  other  two  until  after  a  personal  explanation  and 
permission  to  do  so.  No  outsider  could  successfully 
break  into  the  business  without  first  securing  the  con- 
sent of  these  three  gentlemen, 

Mr.  Ross  was  a  jeweler  by  trade,  a  fine  mechanic  and 
was  the  first  telegraph  operator  in  that  part  of  the  State. 
He  possessed  considerable  artistic  ability  and  did  sketch- 
ing of  natural  scenery.  He  and  General  Granger,  who 
also  did  sketching  of  natural  scenery,  were  each  others 
critics  of  their  work.  Mr.  Ross  made  a  working  tele- 
phone and  also  a  working  microphone  before  having 
seen  either. 


140 


During  the  "Hard  Cider  and  Log  Cabin"  campaign 
of  1844,  he  wrote  and  set  to  music,  the  popular  song 
"Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  Too."  He  was  asked  to  sing 
this  at  a  Whig  Meeting  in  Columbus,  where  it  was  quite 
favorably  received.  Shortly  after  and  while  visiting 
in  New  York,  he  attended  a  Mass  Convention  in  Cooper 
Institute,  when  the  Chairman  extended  an  invitation 
to  anyone  in  the  audience  to  come  forward  and  give 
them  a  song.  After  waiting  a  short  time,  and  there 
being  no  response,  Mr.  Ross  ascended  the  stage — said 
that  he  was  from  Ohio,  and  that  if  there  was  no  one  else 
to  sing,  he  would  give  them  a  home  song,  and  he  soon 
had  the  audience  worked  up  to  a  high  pitch  of  enthu- 
siasm. These  words  and  music  were  immediately 
printed,  and  soon  all  parts  of  the  country  came  to  know 
the  song  and  few,  if  any,  ever  attained  greater  pop- 
ularity. It  was  an  important  factor  in  the  election  of 
Harrison  &  Tyler,  to  the  offices  of  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Mr,  Crosby  was  a  bachelor  and  gave  much  of  his  time 
to  literature.  He  had  a  very  large  Shakespearean  collec- 
tion and  was  commonly  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
Shakespearean  scholars  in  the  state.  Mr.  Thompson 
was  a  merchant  and  conducted  his  store  in  connection 
with  his  insurance  business.  An  item  of  interest 
appears  in  a  letter  written  to  one  of  these  agents  by  a 
Company  he  represented,  saying  to  him  that  the  rates 
of  their  Grist  Mills  would  be  \]/2  run  night  and  1}^ 
when  run  in  daylight  only. 


141 


Adjustments 

"Lowliness  is  a  young  ambitious  ladder,  whereto  the 
climber  upwards  turns  his  face,  and  when  he  once  attains 
the  utmost  round,  he  then  unto  the  ladder  turns  his  back, 
looks  into  the  clouds,  scorning  the  base  degrees  by  which 
he  did  ascend." 

Almost  without  exception,  young  men  entering  the 
field  service  succumbed  to  the  music  of  the  buzzing  bee 
in  their  bonnets  to  adjust  losses,  and  to  acquire  the  rep- 
utation of  being  a  "good  adjuster"  which  was  not  only 
their  highest  ambition  but  it  was  to  reach  the  mountain 
peak  in  their  business  or  professional  career. 

While  this  was  a  sort  of  a  "Will  o'  the  Wisp"  to  be 
chased,  the  companies  themselves  were  not  wholly 
without  responsibility  for  it,  and  for  the  reason  that 
they  commonly  regarded  the  good  adjuster  with  the 
greater  favor  and  paid  him  a  higher  salary.  Less  atten- 
tion was  given  at  that  time  than  now  on  the  part  of  the 
companies  and  special  agents  to  securing  large  lines  on 
choice  risks,  which  experience  has  shown  can  be  written 
at  low  rates  and  with  fair  profit.  This  practice  was 
economy  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  line. 

For  thirty  years  my  time  was  almost  wholly  taken  up 
with  the  adjustment  of  losses,  and  while  I  had  many 
peculiar,  exciting  and  interesting  experiences  no  one  has 
ever  heard  me  speak  either  boastingly  or  publicly  of 
them.  The  fact  is  the  loose  and  careless  boasting  of  the 
sharp  practices  on  the  part  of  adjusters  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  claims  brought  the  companies  into  disfavor  and 
disrepute  in  many  localities,  and  has  contributed  to  a 
very  large  extent  to  the  prevailing  prejudices  against 
them  in  the  minds  of  the  assured,  and  the  enactment  of 
some  of  our  iniquitous  laws. 


142 


Having  never  been  guilty  of  exploiting  my  achieve- 
ments and  having  made  it  a  rule  to  not  relate  my  indi- 
vidual experiences  in  this  branch  of  the  service,  I  believe 
that  my  friends  will,  and  not  unwillingly  indulge  me  in 
relating  some  of  my  personal  experiences  in  the  Adjust- 
ment of  Losses,  in  order  the  younger  members  of  our 
profession  may  know  what  was  then  required  of  the 
Field    Man   under  the  head  of  Special  Agency  work. 

Proper  Names 

To  the  Etymologist  the  study  of  words  is  an  interesting 
one  and  especially  the  names  of  persons.  The  ancient 
Hebrews  gave  names  to  their  offspring  which  commonly 
indicated  their  characteristics.  Whether  their  names 
were  first  given  them  and  their  characters  afterwards  so 
moulded  as  to  fit  or  interpret  their  names,  or  whether 
their  names  were  given  them  after  their  predominant 
characteristics  were  determined,  is  not  a  material  mat- 
ter, but  this  fitness  of  names  to  characters  still  prevails 
among  us  to  some  extent. 

A  perusal  of  some  of  my  experiences  in  the  adjustment 
of  losses  will  call  attention  to  this  singular  fitness  of 
names  to  the  characters  of  the  parties  on  whom  they  were 
bestowed  and  with  whom  I  had  some  novel  business  rela- 
tions. 

"Man's  name  is  not  like  a  mantle  which  merely  hangs 
about  him,  and  which  one  perchance  may  safely  twitch 
and  pull,  but  a  perfect  fitting  garment,  which,  like  the 
skin,  has  grown  over  him,  at  which  one  cannot  rake  and 
scrape  without  injuring  the  name  itself." 


143 


My  First  Adjustment 

The  day,  which  had  been  a  dismal  and  gloomy  one, 
was  drawing  to  a  close  when  a  messenger  boy  handed 
me  a  telegram  directed  to  my  superior  officer,  advising 

of  a  loss  under  Policy  No. ,B 

Ohio  agency.  When  I  received  instructions  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  to  journey  to  that  agency  and  adjust  this 
loss,  I  will  admit  that  I  saw  visions  of  the  fulfilment  of 
my  ambitious  dreams.  Calling  upon  our  agent  I  learned 
that  our  loss  consisted  of  a  damage  to  a  brick  wall  of  a 
two  story  building  and  was  caused  from  an  external 
exposure.  The  assured,  Mrs.  Hilda  Trump,  (Hilda 
Shawnessy  prior  to  the  first  of  her  three  adventures  in 
matrimony)  a  product  of  the  Green  Isle  of  Erin,  had 
three  grown  up  husky  sons,  and  if  any  combination 
could  be  fixed  up  that  would  tax  the  resources  and  dis- 
courage the  beginner  more  than  this,  I  have  never  been 
able  to  figure  it  out.  After  two  days  of  figuring,  arguing 
and  wrangling  the  loss  was  "compromised"  at  $379.00, 
and  it  required  four  pages  of  closely  WTitten  sheets  of 
letter  paper  to  explain  to  the  General  Agent  the  skill  and 
success  with  which  I  had  handled  this,  my  first  adjust- 
ment. In  after  years,  when  reviewing  this  experience, 
I  discovered  that  the  actual  loss  did  not  exceed  $150.00 
and  that  the  Company  had  paid  for  this  schooling  or 
education  of  mine  $229.00 — something  not  unlike  what 
many  other  companies  have  done. 

Baby  Clothes 

They  were  both  of  Dutch  descent.  The  husband  was 
a  steady,  industrious  mechanic,  and  the  wife,  a  frugal, 
healthy  rosy  cheeked  woman. 

Their  home  was  in  the  second  story  of  a  three  story 

144 


brick  block.  After  we  had  agreed  on  the  damages  to 
their  household  belongings — item  by  item — the  wife 
asked  her  husband  to  absent  himself  until  called  for, 
saying  that  she  wished  to  have  a  private  talk  with  me. 
The  next  few  minutes  were  given  up  to  wondering  what 
was  coming. 

There  was  not  at  that  time  an  heir  apparent  in  their 
little  home,  but  it  was  quite  apparent  that  an  heir  was 
among  their  early  hopes  and  expectations.  Conducting 
me  to  a  small  bedroom  she  uncovered  and  took  from  a 
large  box  a  full  outfit  of  baby  clothes. 

When  doing  this  she  said:  "Mr.  B ,you  must  know 

what  we  are  expecting  in  our  little  home.  No  one 
except  myself,  not  even  my  husband  or  mother,  has 
ever  seen  these  and  I  think  I  should  be  allowed  some- 
thing to  put  them  in  good  condition,  don't  you?" 

Her  manifested  confidence  in  me,  her  delicate  modesty 
and  her  beautiful  motherly  instinct  gripped  my  heart 
and  at  the  end  of  a  long  schedule,  I  added:  "One  lot  of 
baby  clothes"  and  figures  that  made  her  happy. 

Sour  Milk 

When  the  innocent,  unsophisticated  granger  is  unable 
to  make  up  and  present  a  claim  for  loss  by  lightning  on 
live  stock,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  facing  the  setting  sun 
and  that  his  inventive  genius  and  mental  discernment 
are  on  the  decline.  That  thousands  of  dollars  are  paid 
out  annually  for  dishonest  claims  of  the  class,  no  one 
familiar  with  the  business  will  question. 

A  drive  of  a  few  miles  from  Forest,  Ohio,  brought  me 
to  the  home  of  our  claimant,  a  genial,  modest,  well-to-do 
farmer,  and  after  presenting  my  credentials,  I  was  per- 
sonally conducted  by  him  into  the  pasture  field  that  I 

145 


might  view  the  victim  of  a  recent  Hghtning  stroke — 
what  had  been  his  best  and  most  valuable  cow. 

I  found  "Sukie"  in  a  bunch  of  bushes,  chewing  her 
cud  in  supreme  contentment,  fighting  ofif  the  flies  with 
her  switching  tail  and  evincing  no  indications  that  she 
was  not  in  her  normal  condition  both  in  body  and  in- 
stincts. In  his  reply  to  my  direct  request  to  show  me 
some  evidence  to  substantiate  his  claim  for  loss,  he 
admitted  that  he  could  not,  but  stated  that  ever  since 
the  lightning  had  struck  that  tree  (pointing  to  it)  in  the 
pasture  field,  this  cow  had  given  sour  milk.  I  then  and 
there  learned  something  that  is  not  found  in  any  of  our 
Insurance  text  books  nor  in  any  instructions  to  Adjust- 
ers. 

The  Honest  Jew 

A  number  of  adjusters  were  called  to  B ,  Ohio 

to  settle  a  loss  of  considerable  magnitude  on  a  stock  of 
clothing  and  gents'  furnishing  goods.  The  fire  had 
communicated  to  adjoining  rooms  and  there  were  a 
number  of  other  stocks  either  destroyed  or  seriously 
damaged.  The  stock  of  merchandise  we  had  for  atten- 
tion was  only  partially  destroyed — quite  a  large  per- 
centage of  it  having  been  saved  in  a  damaged  condition. 
We  found  the  claimants'  books  apparently  in  good  shape 
and  the  amount  of  stock  claimed  to  be  on  hand  at  the 
time  of  the  fire  was  easily  determined  from  such  records 
as  were  furnished  us.  The  adjustment  consumed  about 
four  days  and  the  assured,  a  child  of  the  circumcision, 
impressed  us  all  with  his  absolute  honesty,  his  fairness 
and  his  disposition  to  do  only  what  was  right  and  just 
between  himself  and  the  companies  interested.  In  the 
evening  of  the  day  of  which  the  loss  was  closed  the 
assured  tendered  the  Adjusters  a  banquet  at  one  of  the 

146 


Hotels,  where  we  all  had  a  jolly  uproarious,  time,  as 
well  as  an  intellectual  feast.  Mr.  \V.  B.  Cornell,  who 
represented  the  N.  B.  &  AL,  and  who  was  quite  a  ready 
WTiter,  composed  and  wrote  some  verses  on  "The  Honest 
Jew,"  which  were  published  in  our  Insurance  Journals. 
We  all  left  with  a  feeling  of  assurance  that  we  had  met 
one  Hebrew,  who  like  Caesar's  wife  was  above  suspicion. 
In  a  few  weeks  thereafter  while  visiting  our  Agency 

at  B ,  an  Ex-Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court, 

and  a  prominent  citizen  of  that  city  expressed  a  wish 
to  have  a  private  talk  with  me  in  regard  to  the  ad- 
justment of  this  "Honest  Jew"  loss.  He  wanted  to 
know  among  other  things  "why  in  Hell  you  ever  paid 
it."  Through  some  means  it  had  become  common 
knowledge  that  the  assured  had  under  cover  of  darkness 
and  prior  to  the  fire,  removed  his  stock  of  trimmings, 
linings,  silks  and  other  expensive  goods  to  his  home  and 
that  they  were  there  duly  packed  at  the  time  of  the  fire. 
His  statement  not  only  bore  evidence  of  being  true,  but 
easy  of  confirmation.  We  felt  that  we  had  been  sold 
out — body  and  breeches,  duped  and  beaten  in  a  "shell 
game,"  and  did  not  have  sufficient  courage  to  either 
admit  it,  or  open  up  the  case  and  expose  an  "Honest 
Hebrew,"  who  sat  at  the  table  with  cards  up  his  sleeve. 

"To  a  Wolf  in  Cheap  Clothing"  and  not  "A  Wolf 
in  Sheeps  Clothing." 

In  all  my  experience  as  Adjuster, 

And  I've  ransacked  Memory  through 

I've  never  met  such  a  "regular  buster," 
As  I  found  mein  freund,  David  in  you. 

You  tell  me  with  utmost  nonchalance. 

And  in  your  card  the  idea  convey. 
That  "Conscience"  squares  your  "Trial  Balance" 

But  David,  you  shpells  it  mit  a  "K." 

147 


For  "Shop-keepers"  "Memory"  and  "Stealings" 

Perhaps  we  deducted  too  much, 
We  will  now  review  without  feeling, 

Our  errors,  (if  we  made  any  such.) 

For  "Shop-keepers"  it  was  wrong  to  deduct, 

On  a  clothing  stock  kept  by  a  Jew, 
For  that  history  does  plainly  instruct, 

To  him,  old  clothing  is  better  than  new. 

For  "Stealings"  it  was  wrong  to  take  off. 

Since  their  selling  price  was  plain  to  the  eye. 

No  thief,  howe'er  low  would  make  off. 
With  goods  marked  so  fearfully  high. 

About  "Memory,"  I  know  I  was  right, 

For  your  Memory  is  poor,  when  you're  nettled ; 

We  were  to  have  lots  of  goodies,  some  night, 
Which  you  forgot  all  about  when  we  settled. 

But  seriously,  we  speak  what  we  feel. 

And  w^ish  what  w^e  trust  will  prove  true; 

That  every  Gentile,  with  whom  we  may  deal, 
May  be  found  as  white  as  this  Jew. 

— Kornell. 


Millinery 

Mrs.  Gardenia  Blossom,  a  charming  widow  and  her 
one  grown  up  son  constituted  the  family  living  on  the 
second  floor  of  a  frame  building  in  M ,  Ohio. 

The  first  story  of  the  building  was  occupied  by  this 
widow  as  a  millinery  store.  She  w^as  not  classed  as  an 
old  resident  of  that  place,  nor  were  her  antecedents  ever 
seriously  investigated.    One  night  when  an  alarm  of  fire 


148 


was  given  it  was  soon  discovered  that  it  was  raging  in 
this  millinery  store  and  when  the  fire  apparatus  reached 
the  scene  of  the  disaster,  Mrs.  Blossom  was  found  lying 
on  the  ground  outside  of  the  building  both  bruised  and 
badly  crippled  as  a  result  from  jumping  from  the  second 
story  of  the  building.  Upon  my  arrival  to  adjust  the 
claim  I  found  a  very  general  sympathy  for  this  fasci- 
nating and  popular  milliner  and  it  seemed  that  the 
entire  population  of  M had  formed  an  asso- 
ciation to  see  that  she  was  promptly,  justly  and  sym- 
pathetically dealt  with.  After  some  digging  up  of  facts, 
and  guessing  at  others  I  was  able  to  complete  a  set  of 
proofs,  which  I  noiselessly  carried  to  her  bed  side  and 
tenderly  placing  the  family  bible  at  an  angle  of  about  45 
degrees  under  her  right  arm,  she  was  able  to  attach  her 
signature  to  the  document.  Much  appreciation  of  my 
sympathy  and  generosity  was  manifested  and  in  each 
case  there  was  an  expression  of  sorrow  for  the  unfor- 
tunate woman. 

Sometime  and  quite  shortly  after  this,  both  she  and 

her  son  disappeared  from  M ,  between  sunset  and 

sunrise  of  a  dark  night,  and  without  the  customary  for- 
mality of  bidding  her  sympathetic  neighbors  a  farewell, 
and  so  far  as  I  know  they  have  never  since  been  heard 
of,  or  from.  The  facts  are  she  probably  burned  her  prop- 
erty, pulled  the  wool  over  my  eyes  completely,  secured 
from  the  insurance  company  an  amount  probably  much 
in  excess  of  her  loss,  cheated  her  honest  creditors  and 
then  fled  the  country,  to  repeat  her  well  planned  and 
successful  scheme  on  other  innocent  victims. 

We  saw  her,  we  heard  her,  but  have  never  been  able 
to  tell  whence  she  came,  or  whither  she  went. 


149 


Visit  of  the  Marquise 

There  had  been  a  serious  fire  in  the  storage  warehouse 
of  Ezekiel  &  Burnheim  of  Cincinnati.  Among  the  many 
items  insured  and  on  which  losses  were  claimed,  was  an 
oil  painting  of  the  "Visit  of  The  Marquise"  valued  by 
the  artist  of  some  note  at  $25,000.00  and  on  which  he 
had  a  policy  of  $5,000.00.  The  owner  and  artist  was  at 
that  time  located  in  Paris,  France,  and  a  brother  of  his 
residing  at  Cincinnati,  was  his  agent  and  was  equipped 
with  the  "Power  of  Attorney,"  to  attend  to  his  business 
affairs. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  escape  for  the  company  from 
paying  the  full  amount  of  insurance,  but  when  making 
up  the  Proof  of  Loss,  I  embodied  therein  the  stipulation 
and  made  it  a  part  of  the  same  that  in  consideration  of 
the  full  amount  of  insurance  paid  him,  the  painting 
would  be  surrendered  or  turned  over  to  the  Company. 

The  painting  appeared  to  be  a  total  loss — covered 
with  dirt,  muddy  water  and  chemicals.  Learning  the 
name  of  a  party  who  it  was  said  had  a  secret  process  for 
cleaning  paintings,  I  called  upon  him  and  after  an  inter- 
view had  the  painting  sent  to  his  store,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  afterwards,  when  I  called  to  see  what  progress  he 
had  made,  he  conducted  me  to  the  rear  part  of  his 
store  room  where  he  had  this  picture  on  exhibition.  The 
work  had  been  so  perfectly  done  that  no  one  would 
have  suspected  that  the  painting  had  ever  been  near  a 
fire.  It  is  now  hanging  on  the  wall  in  the  office  of  The 
Pennsylvania  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Philadelphia. 
Before  shipping  it,  I  had  an  oflfer  of  four  figures  in  dollars 
for  it. 


150 


Mr.  Doolittle  Stunts 

In  this  same  fire  were  three  cases  of  merchandise 
insured  with  us,  but  during  the  next  ten  days  no  one 
appeared  either  as  the  owner  or  with  the  authority  to 
make  the  adjustment. 

In  the  presence  of  Mr.  Ezekiel  I  had  these  boxes  or 
cases  opened,  the  contents  examined,  and  I  was  at  once 
convinced  that  they  were  stolen  goods  and  for  the  reason 
that  they  consisted  of  short  cuts  of  cloths,  linings  trim- 
mings, etc.  After  a  number  of  days  had  elapsed  and  by 
good  liick  striking  the  right  trail,  I  was  enabled  to  trace 
the  shipment  of  these  goods  as  far  as  Indianapolis,  and 
after  some  time  spent  in  making  investigations,  I  found 

that  they  came  from  the  store  of  K Clothing  Co. 

of  that  city,  and  the  evidence,  so  far  secured,  pointed 
directly  to  their  principal  tailor  or  cutter  Mr,  Stunts  as 

the  guilty  party.   I  was  obliged  to  approach  Mr.  K 

very  cautiously  with  the  evidence  I  had  secured — with 
my  suspicions  and  beliefs  as  to  the  guilt  of  his  principal 
cutter,  and  after  doing  so,  it  was  questionable  whether 
I  would  be  able  to  get  out  of  the  store  with  a  whole  hide 
on  me.  After  some  delay  and  giving  him  time  to  cool  off 
and  consider  what  I  had  said  to  him  he  agreed  to  visit 
Cincinnati  with  me  for  the  purpose  of  examining  these 
goods  and  identifying  them  if  they  were  from  his  store; 
He  was  not  only  able  to  identify  them  but  to  each  piece 
was  attached  a  card  bearing  his  trade-mark  as  well  as 
both  the  cost  and  selling  prices.  Convinced  now  as  he 
was  he  joined  us  in  the  prosecution  of  this  trusted  em- 
ployee, Mr.  Stunts,  had  him  arrested  for  the  crime 
which  was  now  clearly  fastened  upon  him  and  he  paid 
the  penalty  of  his  sinning  by  serving  a  term  in  the 
Indiana  Penitentiary.  This  tailor  had  prior  to  this  had 
a  reputation  among  his  acquaintances  and  business 
associates  in  Indianapolis  that  was  above  reproach. 


151 


House  Plate 

A  drive  of  six  or  eight  miles  over  and  along  the  foot 
hills  of  West  Virginia  mountains  brought  me  to  a  deso- 
late spot  of  ground  covered  with  ashes,  cinders  and  the 
debris  of  broken  stoves,  earthenware,  kitchen  ware,  etc. 
where  only  a  few  days  before  had  stood  the  dwelling  of  a 
hard-working  and  fairly-well-to-do  farmer.  To  use  an 
old  time  undertakers  invitation  to  the  friends  "I  viewed 
the  remains"  and  in  doing  so,  all  of  my  visions  of  sal- 
vage suddenly  vanished. 

The  family  had  moved  into  and  was  occupying  an 
out-building — a  combination  of  wagon  shed  and  crib 
house  as  their  temporary  residence.  Meeting  the  wife  of 
the  assured  and  the  mother  of  their  several  children  I 
went  through  the  formalities  of  introducing  myself,  and 
when  asking  for  her  husband,  she  replied  that  he  and 
the  two  boys  were  up  in  the  woods  getting  out  timber 
for  their  new  home  and  that  she  would  call  him  in  by 
ringing  the  bell — a  cast  iron  affair  attached  to  the  top 
of  a  tall  post  set  up  in  the  yard. 

I  asked  her  if  they  had  saved  their  policy,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  the  disappointment  and  anxiety  shown  in 
her  face  and  in  her  words.  Her  reply  was  "No  mister, 
we  could  not  and  I  hope  that  you  will  not  take  any 
advantage  of  us  in  the  settlement  of  our  loss  because  we 
did  not.  We  did  everything  we  could  to  save  it.  One 
of  the  boys  got  up  on  a  chair  and  tried  to  reach  it  and 
pull  it  off,  but  it  was  nailed  fast  above  the  door  and  the 
heat  and  smoke  compelled  him  to  leave  it,  and  we  hope 
now  that  you  will  not  take  any  advantage  of  us  because 
we  did  everything  we  could  to  save  it."  I  then  asked 
her  if  she  did  not  have  a  paper  of  some  kind  that  had 
been  given  to  her  by  the  agent,  and  going  through  some 
papers  she  had  in  a  trunk  she  brought  out  the  policy. 

152 


By  this  time  the  husband  had  gotten  in  from  the 
woods  and  he  at  once  expressed  his  regrets  of  the  "loss 
of  the  poHcy"  and  hoped  that  I  would  not  take  any 
advantage  of  them  because  they  could  not  produce  it — 
that  they  had  made  every  effort  possible  to  save  it  and 
had  failed  in  doing  so. 

As  the  evening  was  approaching  and  we  were  nearing 
the  end  of  our  schedule,  I  said  to  these  people,  to  allay 
their  fears  and  apprehensions,  that  I  would  not  take  any 
advantage  of  them — that  I  would  not  punish  them  for 
failing  in  what  they  had  undertaken  to  do,  "the  rescue 
of  the  'House  Plate'  over  the  front  door."  I  left  them 
happy  in  the  belief  that  with  the  loss  of  that  little  piece 
of  tin  they  had  no  legal  claim  against  the  Company,  but 
that  the  payment  of  their  claim  was  an  act  of  generosity 
on  the  part  of  the  Company. 

Wooly  Horse 

The  day  had  been  a  long  one — the  journey  a  tiresome 
and  tedious  one,  and  just  as  the  train  was  winding  along 
a  crooked  valley  and  was  playing  a  hide-and-seek  game 
with  the  sun  which  was  then  sinking  behind  the  western 
hills,  the  trainman  called  "Wil-mot-Wil-Afo^." 

With  a  sense  of  freedom  and  relief  I  stepped  from  the 
car  platform  and  the  only  person  I  saw  was  the  Station 
Agent.  To  my  inquiries,  where  I  could  find  the  town 
and  how  to  reach  it  he  directed  me  to  an  uneven  path 
down  an  uneven  bank  leading  to  the  river,  where  I  was 
to  find  a  row  boat  which  would  carry  me  to  my  destina- 
tion on  the  opposite  side.  The  gentleman  handling  the 
oars  to  the  skiff  informed  me  that  there  was  no  hotel  in 
the  place,  although  it  was  a  county  seat.  Following  his 
directions  I  found  a  place  to  lodge  and  sleep  in  a  long  one 

153 


story,  frame,  ram-shackle  building  on  a  back  .street, 
facing  the  river,  where  I  was  very  comfortably  enter- 
tained. 

Hunting  up  the  party  to  whom  I  had  been  directed 
and  being  informed  by  him  that  the  loss  I  came  to  adjust 
was  back  some  nine  or  ten  miles  over  the  mountains,  I 
naturally  made  inquiry  how  to  reach  the  remote  spot, 
and  suggested  that  he  had  better  engage  a  team  and 
buggy  for  the  purpose.  Somewhat  to  my  surprise,  he 
informed  me  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  buggy  in 
the  place — that  the  only  means  of  travel  was  on  horse- 
back. After  getting  my  breakfast  on  the  following 
morning  I  walked  to  that  part  of  the  town  where  I  was 
to  meet  my  friend  and  found  him  waiting  for  me — found 
that  he  had  provided  two  horses  for  the  trip — one  for 
himself  and  one  for  me.  They  were  both  hitched  to  a 
long  pole  running  parallel  to  the  street  and  fastened  to 
up-right  posts. 

The  horse  that  was  assigned  to  me  was  a  curiosity — 
instead  of  being  covered  with  hair,  his  coat  was  as  wooly 
as  that  of  a  sheep  and  when  I  saw  him  I  was  reminded  of 
the  old  campaign  song,  ''Fremont  andhis  Wooly  Horse." 

I  was  informed  that  he  was  of  that  stock  or  breed  and 
had  been  brought  there  from  the  Rocky  Mountains.  I 
had  some  difficulty,  met  with  some  delay,  in  mounting 
my  steed.  No  sooner  would  I  get  a  foot  in  the  stirrup 
than  he  would  start  to  go.  Finally  by  engaging  a  man 
to  hold  him  I  got  into  the  saddle.  This  horse  was  as 
particular  about  his  feet  as  a  cat.  When  he  would  reach 
a  pool  or  mud-hole  in  the  road,  he  would  either  jump 
entirely  across  it,  or  would  put  his  body  into  a  semi- 
circle, pass  around  on  one  side,  rubbing  himself  against 
the  bushes  and  small  trees,  obliging  me  to  either  throw 
a  leg  up  on  his  shoulders  or  on  the  opposite  side  to 


154 


prevent  being  scratched  or  bruised.  The  day  was  a 
beautiful  one  in  the  month  of  June.  The  air  was  sim- 
ply delightful — the  woods  and  bushes  on  each  side  of 
the  narrow  road  were  musical  with  the  songs  of  the  birds 
and  the  mountain  laurel  was  out  in  all  its  glory  of 
beautiful  bloom. 

I  reached  the  town — my  starting  point,  on  my  return 
trip  in  the  late  evening — went  to  bed  feeling  fine,  but 
when  I  awoke  the  next  morning,  every  muscle  in  my 
body  was  so  sore  that  it  was  with  pain  and  difficulty 
that  I  got  into  my  clothes.  This  was  my  first  exper- 
ience and  I  imagine  and  hope  it  will  be  my  last,  with  a 
wooly  horse. 

The  Modern  Siren 

In  addition  to  being  a  talented  artist,  he  bore  the  title 
of  Italian  Nobility.  He  traveled  under  the  name  of 
Marquis  De  Henri  A.  Van-Zuber,  giving  his  residence  as 
Genoa,  Italy.  On  his  way  to  the  Chicago  Exposition  to 
place  on  exhibition  in  the  Art  Gallery  and  then  sell  his 
great  painting,  ''The  Modern  Siren,"  representing  a 
tall,  ill  proportioned  young  woman,  clad  in  a  scanty 
bathing  suit,  basking  in  the  sunshine  on  the  sands  of  the 
sea-shore — he  stopped  off  at  Cleveland  where  he  rented 
a  room  in  a  brick  block  on  Euclid  Ave — lined  it  through- 
out with  a  black  cambric  muslin — excluded  all  outside 
light,  and  placed  his  master  piece  under  a  reflector  for 
exhibition. 

On  a  Friday  evening  he  invited  a  local  agent  to  visit 
this  room,  inspect  his  production  and  place  a  limited 
amount  of  insurance  on  it.  On  a  low  valuation  given 
by  him  of  $25,000,  our  representative  issued  four  policies 
aggregating  $15,000.    The  daily  reports  were  not  mailed 

155 


from  the  Cleveland  offices  until  late  on  Saturday  eve- 
ning, and  did  not  therefore  reach  the  Companies  until 
Monday  morning,  when  telegrams  were  sent  ordering 
the  cancellation  of  the  policies.  Some  time  during  the 
preceding  Saturday  night  a  fire  occurred,  totally  destroy- 
ing this  work  of  art. 

Upon  investigation  we  found  that  this  distinguished 
gentleman  had  located  himself  in  a  room  over  a  frame 
saloon  on  East  St.  Clair  Street.  The  adjustment  of  the 
loss  was  entrusted  to  Captain  J.  M.  Wallace  and  myself. 

An  exhaustive  examination  under  oath  brought  from 
him  the  following  information— that  he  was  born  in  and 
was  a  citizen  of  Italy— that  his  family  was  of  the  official 
class — that  he  had  received  his  education,  training  and 
instructions  in  a  celebrated  studio  in  Rome — that  he  had 
painted  a  number  of  pictures  which  had  found  ready 
sale,  and  at  high  prices — that  his  last  painting  was  ''The 
Modern  Siren"  which  he  executed  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  exhibiting  at  the  Chicago  Exposition — that  he  came 
over  on  the  Steamship  Victoria  Louise,  landed  with  his 
painting  in  New  York  in  the  month  of  May,  189-,  that 
he  lived  for  some  weeks  at  one  of  the  leading  hotels  of  the 
city,  that  his  production  had  been  exhibited  to  a  number 
of  prominent  artists  in  New  York  before  starting  with  it 
on  his  journey  to  Chicago  and  that  he  had  never  had  a 
photograph  or  a  copy  of  any  kind  made  of  the  picture, 
for  to  do  so,  he  said  would  be  "to  cheapen  it." 

Equipped  with  a  copy  of  this  statement.  Captain 
Wallace  and  I  started  out  on  a  tour  of  investigation  and 
detective  work. 

In  New  York  we  learned  that  no  person  answering  to 
his  name  or  description  was  among  the  passengers  of 
the  Victoria  Louise  landing  at  that  port  in  May,  189 — 
that  no  paintings  had  passed  through  the  custom  house 


156 


as  a  part  of  the  cargo  of  that  ship — that  his  "Modern 
Siren"  had  been  painted  in  a  shed  at  the  back  yard  of  a 
cheap  dwelHng  located  in  the  ItaHan  Quarters,  and  that 
he  had  made  his  home  while  there  at  a  notorious  place 
known  as  "Glenn  Castle"  on  Long  Island. 

From  New  York  he  went  to  Philadelphia  where  he 
found  lodgings  with  a  buxom  widow  who  conducted  a 
boarding  house,  and  who  evidently  had  become  infat- 
uated with  her  distinguished  guest.  During  one  of  our 
several  visits  to  her  she  made  mention  of  a  greatly  prized 
souvenir  he  had  given  her  just  before  leaving  the  city, 
and  with  assurances  from  us  that  we  were  interested 
and  dealt  in  works  of  art,  that  we  would  not  take  it 
from  her  nor  cause  her  any  embarrassment  whatever, 
she  brought  out  and  showed  us  a  photograph  of  this 
painting.  From  this  we  located  the  photographer  who 
had  a  studio  out  some  three  or  four  miles  and  in  the  edge 
of  the  city,  and  from  him  we  procured  a  number  of 
copies.  His  next  stopping  point  was  Annapolis,  his 
next  Baltimore,  and  from  which  point  he  went  to  Cleve- 
land, stopping  off  for  a  few  days  at  Pittsburgh.  At  each 
place  he  made  a  pretense  of  exhibiting  this  master  piece 
of  his  and  an  effort  to  secure  insurance  on  it. 

The  final  adjustment  was  made  in  The  Hollenden 
Hotel,  Cleveland.  A  compromise  amount  was  agreed 
upon,  in  which  he  threw  off  85%  of  his  claim  and  the 
Companies  paid  15%,  which  was  afterwards  divided  up 
under  some  arrangement  agreed  upon  between  the  attor- 
neys. 

The  painting  had  no  commercial  value.  Probably  it 
might  have  been  sold  for  a  few  hundred  dollars  to  orna- 
ment the  walls  of  some  saloon.  The  Marquis  shortly 
afterwards  left  Cleveland,  a  wiser  and  a  poorer  man 

157 


after  this  experience  but  with  a  higher  opinion  and 
respect  for  the  business  sagacity  of  the  Americans. 

His  departure  was  not  marked  with  any  pubHc  dem- 
onstrations of  sorrow  and  it  is  supposed  he  ultimately 
found  solace  for  his  disappointment  in  the  company  of 
the  original  "Modern  Siren"  in  the  land  of  his  nativity. 

In  order  that  we  might  retain  this  episode  more 
clearly  in  our  memories  and  keep  our  artistic  tastes  cul- 
tivated to  the  highest  point  in  the  fine  arts,  both  the 
captain  and  myself,  after  spending  two  weeks  in  detec- 
tive work,  emerged  from  this  interesting  experience 
each  with  a  photograph  of  "The  Modern  Siren"  as  a 
souvenir,  and  with  more  knowledge  and  an  unusual 
experience  in  Italian  Art 

Carranza  Bros. 

The  case  which  excited  the  greatest  general  interest 
and  attention  and  around  which  centered  the  most  con- 
cern on  the  part  of  the  Insurance  Companies;  the  case 
that  was  most  bitterly  contested  and  at  the  largest  cost 
in  the  way  of  expenses  and  which  was  in  the  public  eye 
during  my  insurance  career,  was  that  of  the  Carranza 
Bro's.  of  F ,  Ohio. 

This  firm  conducted  a  general  store  (one  of  the  Clafiin 
branches  scattered  over  the  country)  in  a  three  story 
brick  building  at  the  north  east  corner  of  two  principal 
streets  in  that  city.  By  the  adoption  of  a  policy  form 
granting  "permission  for  additional  insurance  without 
notice"  they  procured  insurance  on  their  stock  to  the 
amount  of  $70,000  which  was  demonstrated  by  expert 
accountants  to  be  worth  not  to  exceed  $35,000.  For  a 
long  time  this  concern  had  supposedly  been  running 
behind,  had  been  doing  business  at  a  loss,  had  been  get- 


158 


ting  into  worse  financial  condition  month  by  month, 
unpaid  obHgations  accumulating  until  they  were  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  choice  of  making  an  assignment  or 
going  into  bankruptcy. 

On  a  quiet  Sunday  morning  in  April,  1892  between 
daylight,  when  the  night  force  of  the  police  went  off 
duty,  and  sunrise,  when  the  day  force  came  on  duty,  their 
store  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  but  an  unfore- 
seen interposition  on  the  part  of  Providence  and  the 
prompt  and  efficient  service  by  the  Fire  Department 
prevented  a  total  destruction  of  the  stock — only  a  small 
portion  was  burned  beyond  identification. 

Metal  clad  shutters  had  been  placed  over  all  the 
upper  windows  even  where  there  were  no  external  expo- 
sures, shutting  off  the  draft  and  to  this  precaution  we 
were  indebted  for  the  prompt  extinguishment  of  the  fire 
and  the  small  amount  of  total  loss.  Shortly  before  the 
fire  was  discovered  a  man  was  seen  leaving  the  premises 
by  climbing  over  a  yard  fence  in  the  rear  of  the  store, 
and  by  another  party  skulking  up  a  back  alley  wearing 
an  old  slouch  hat  drawn  down  over  his  head  to  conceal 
his  identity.  A  son  of  one  of  the  assured 's  attorneys, 
learning  of  the  fire  just  as  he  was  leaving  for  an  early 
bicycle  spin  in  the  country,  rode  to  the  home  of  one  of 
the  firm  to  notify  him  of  the  fire,  and  in  answer  to  the 
bell  call  he  promptly  appeared. 

There  were  twenty-one  companies  having  twenty-two 
policies  covering  on  this  stock — one  company  having 
two,  and  all  were  represented  at  a  meeting  of  the  ad- 
justers held  in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel  during  that  week. 
Evidences  of  incendiarism  were  everywhere  present. 
Coal  oil  which  had  been  profusely  used  was  found  in 
the  drawers  and  on  the  stock  in  every  part  of  the  store. 
In  some  instances  we  were  able  to  wring  it  out  of  flan- 


159 


nels  and  sheetings  and  place  it  in  vials  for  preservation, 
and  we  also  cut  off  strips  of  outing  flannels  and  woolen 
cloths  soaked  with  coal  oil  which  we  placed  in  sealed 
airtight  jars.  While  this  concern  did  not  deal  in  coal 
oil  as  an  article  of  merchandise,  it  was  afterwards 
brought  out  in  the  evidence  that  two  barrels  of  this  liq- 
uid had  at  different  times  and  in  small  quantities,  been 
brought  into  the  store  by  an  employee  from  a  car  barn 
controlled  by  one  of  the  members  of  this  firm.  This  oil 
amounted  to  about  two  barrels  and  the  only  oil  used 
about  the  store  was  in  a  coal  oil  lamp  kept  on  the  desk. 
A  barrel  partly  filled  with  oil  w^as  also  found  lodged 
in  the  elevator  between  the  second  and  third  floors. 

With  these  facts  before  us  the  one  common  and 
expressed  sentiment  among  the  adjusters  w^as  to  fight 
the  case  with  all  the  forces  at  our  command.  A  com- 
mittee of  three,  of  which  I  was  made  chairman  was 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  companies  interests  and 
with  instructions  to  spare  no  expenses,  even  if  it  required 
the  full  amount  of  the  insurance  to  defeat  the  claims. 
Their  instructions  were  not  disregarded  as  the  defense 
of  the  interested  companies  cost  them  $71,000  in  the 
final  wind  up,  but  as  an  offset  they  won  a  victory — a 
Supreme  Court  verdict  that  has  been  of  incalculable 
value  to  the  fire  insurance  interests,  not  only  in  Ohio, 
but  throughout  our  country. 

Mr.  Hadday  Cumback,  who  was  employed  as  sort  of 
an  all  around  man  in  this  store,  held,  as  I  at  first  believed 
the  key  to  the  situation — that  he  was  in  possession  of 
facts  which  would,  if  furnished  us  relieve  the  companies 
of  liability.  Evidently  he  was  in  mental  trouble  as  I 
soon  learned,  and  had  sought  advice  from  his  family 
physician.  A  member  of  the  firm  had  made  out  and 
had  presented  to  him  a  conditional  deed  to  a  house  and 


160 


lot  in  F ,  the  purposes  of  which  could  be  easily 

surmised  as  he  was  apparently  under  no  obligations  to 
do  so,  either  financial  or  otherwise.  To  the  physician, 
to  our  attorneys,  to  the  detective  we  had  employed  and 

to  me,  Mr.  C could  not  be  induced  to  go  beyond  a 

certain  point  in  his  story,  and  when  this  was  reached  he 
denied  all  knowledge  of  any  further  essential  facts,  and 
we  seemed  to  be  up  to  that  time,  hopelessly  up  against 
it. 

Sometimes  the  most  important  events  of  our  lives 
hinge  on  small  and  apparently  unimportant  things — 
sometimes  our  failures  precede  and  prepare  us  for  suc- 
cess, as  seemed  to  be  true  in  this  instance. 

The  information  came  to  me  one  day  in  the  following 

July,  and  seemingly  by  accident,  that  Mr.  C 

was  assisting  his  father-in-law  in  harvesting  his  crops  on 
a  farm  near  Forest,  Ohio,  and  thinking  this  was  a  prov- 
idential opportunity  to  prosecute  further  inquiry  and 
investigation  of  the  Carranza  case,  I  went  to  Forest 
where  I  hired  a  horse  and  buggy  and  drove  out  about 
four  miles  into  the  country  and  after  putting  them  in  the 
barnyard  I  was  told,  in  reply  to  my  inquiries  of  the 

mother-in-law,    that  Mr.    C and    her    husband 

were  at  the  back  end  of  the  farm,  about  one  half  mile 
away,  making  and  getting  in  the  hay.  Wishing  to  lose 
no  valuable  time  I  started  to  walk  out  to  where  they 
were  working  when  about  half  way  to  the  meadow  I  saw 
a  team  of  horses  approaching,  hauling  a  load  of  hay,  with 
a  man  on  top  assuming,  it  seemed  to  me  a  somewhat 
careless  attitude.  Not  more  than  100  yards  separated 
us  when  one  of  the  wagon  wheels  went  into  a  rut  and  the 
load  of  hay  promptly  and  gracefully  slid  off  and  changed 
its  location  from  the  wagon  to  the  ground.  For  a  few 
moments  the  atmosphere  was  fairly  blue  with  a  profan- 


161 


ity  that  would  have  shed  lustre  on  a  pirate.     My  request 

to  C to  get  back  on  the  wagon  and  my  offer  to 

pitch  the  hay  back  on  the  rack  were  treated  with  con- 
tempt and  ridicule,  but  after  he  came  to  himself  and 
recovered  his  equilibrium  to  some  extent  he  assented  to 
my  proposition.  Stripping  myself  of  such  clothing  as  I 
could  with  safety  and  decency,  and  under  a  blazing 
July  sun,  with  scarcely  a  breath  of  air  stirring,  I  pitched 
that  hay  back  on  the  wagon — greatly  to  his  surprise 
and  satisfaction  and  from  this  achievement  on  my  part, 
under  a  broiling  sun,  he  evidently  drew  the  conclusion  I 
was  a  pretty  decent  sort  of  a  chap  and  worthy  of  his 
trust  and  confidence.  After  getting  the  team  and  the 
hay  in  the  barn,  we  found  protection  from  the  sun  in  the 
shadow  of  a  large  apple  tree  in  the  yard.     We  had  no 

sooner  taken  our  seats  when  Mr.  C remarked  "Well 

Mr.  B I  suppose  you  are  here  to  get  me  to  tell  you 

all  I  know  about  the  Carranza  fire,  and  I  am  going  to 
tell  you  everything  and  all  that  I  know  about  it."  I  at 
once  assured  him  that  if  he  would  do  this  no  harm  what- 
ever should  come  to  him  and  that  not  a  hair  of  his  head 
should  be  touched.  He  then  made  his  statement  to  me 
slowly,  carefully,  deliberately  and  gave  the  facts  in  con- 
secutive order  and  as  he  did  this,  I  noted  the  substance 
of  each  on  a  writing  pad  I  had  brought  with  me. 

After  enjoying  a  good  farm  dinner  at  this  well  kept 

country  home  I  suggested  to  Mr.  C that  possibly  he 

had  no  better  or  truer  friend,  no  one  who  was  more  per- 
sonally interested  in  his  welfare  than  his  father-in-law, 
and  that  he  should  tell  him  all  that  he  had  told  me. 
Under  the  same  apple  tree  he  repeated  in  my  presence 
the  story  to  his  father-in-law,  almost  word  for  word  as 
he  had  given  it  to  me. 

That  night  in  a  hotel  at  F ,  I  wrote  out  the 


162 


statement  in  full  and  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  following 

morning  Mr.  C and  his  father-in-law  met  me  at 

the  office  of  a  Notary  Public  in  F ,  who  read  to 

them  what  I  had  prepared,  and  to  his  inquiry,  whether 
what  I  had  writen  was  true  and  correct  in  every  partic- 
ular he  replied  that  it  was  and  thereupon  he  subscribed 
his  name  and  testified  to  its  correctness.  This  all  came 
about  from  pitching  that  load  of  hay,  a  feat  that  I 
would  not  willingly  repeat  under  any   circumstances. 

Armed  with  this  sworn-to  statement  I  called  on  our 
attorneys  at  F ,  who,  after  reading  and  comment- 
ing on  it  and  asking  me  scores  of  questions,  compli- 
mented me  on  my  achievement  and  said  that  with  the 
testimony  I  had  suceeded  in  thus  obtaining,  the  claim- 
ants would  never  go  into  Court  with  their  case  and  if 
they  did  the  judge  would  dismiss  the  suit  and  give  us 
a  judgment  without  even  arguments. 

The  three  attorneys  for  the  plaintiffs  representing 
three  offices,  were  the  professional  descendants  of  that 
celebrated  London  trio.  Quirk,  Gammon  and  Snap, 
and  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  three  other  law- 
yers who  would  have  filled  their  description  more  per- 
fectly. 

We  had  representatives  of  a  detective  agency  at 
Chicago  employed  to  procure  evidence  for  us  in  New 
York  and  other  points,  but  they  were  an  expensive 
luxury — they  were  of  no  special  value  to  us  and  did  but 
little  beyond  drawing  big  fees. 

The  first  case  that  came  on  for  trial  was  that  against 
the  Milwaukee  Mechanics  Company.  It  was  impossible 
to  secure  a  jury  from  the  intelligent  reading,  thinking 
men  of  the  city  for  the  reason  they  had  read  about  the 
case — had  formed  opinions  and  had  arrived  at  conclu- 
sions which  would  require  evidence  and  argument  to  re- 

163 


move.  The  twelve  men  finally  selected  to  decide  this 
important  case  were  from  the  country  whose  strong 
points  of  characters  were  their  prejudices  against  cor- 
porations. The  trial  consumed  practically  all  of  two 
weeks  and  from  beginning  to  the  end  the  testimony  on 
behalf  of  the  defendants  was  convincing,  startling  and 
sensational.  It  is  printed  in  book  form  as  a  part  of  the 
Court  record  and  is  accessible  to  anyone  wishing  to 
read  it.  The  testimony  of  one  witness  was  impeached 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  imprisoned  for  some 
misdemeanor  at  sometime  in  one  of  the  Western  States, 
and  the  testimony  of  a  woman,  which  was  taken  in 
Cleveland,  was  disregarded  because  of  her  admission  of 
a  slight  indiscretion  whereby  she  became  the  mother  of 
a  negro  baby. 

One  morning  in  1899,  seven  years  after  this  fire  had 
occurred,  while  reading  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  in  a 
hotel  at  Greenfield,  Ohio,  I  saw  a  statement  among  the 
Columbus  items  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  rendered 
its  verdict  in  the  Carranza  case  in  favor  of  the  Com- 
panies. To  convince  myself  that  I  was  not  mistaken  I 
read  it  over  and  over  and  then  rushed  to  the  telegraph 
ofifice  to  convey  the  information  to  the  company  for 
which  I  was  working. 

I  put  in  at  least  150  days  of  hard  work  on  this  loss  and 
while  I  had  many  things  to  contend  with,  I  have  to 
admit  that  some  of  the  interested  companies  gave  me 
the  greatest  amount  of  annoyance  and  trouble  with  their 
interference  and  persistency  to  throw  up  the  sponge, 
compromise  the  case  and  quit. 

Judge  Ostrander,  the  General  Adjuster  of  the  Phoenix 
of  New  York  and  Secretary  Whitney  of  Detroit  stood 
by  me  and  gave  me  all  the  encouragement  possible,  told 
me  to  fight  to  the  bitter  end  and  never  give  up,  and  that 


164 


they  would  stand  by  me  as  long  as  there  was  a  foot  of 
ground  to  stand  on.  Judge  Ostrander  had  been  greatly 
interested  in  the  trial,  had  followed  it  closely  from  the 
beginning,  and  after  it  was  over,  he  requested  me  to 
write  a  story,  embodying  the  interesting  and  novel  feat- 
ures of  this  affair,  but  after  having  wrestled  with  it  for 
seven  years  and  with  its  many  tribulations,  I  had  no 
desire  to  continue  with  it,  even  as  a  story  writer,  any 
longer. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Underwriter's  Association  of  the 
Northwest  in  the  fall  of  1899  I  was  called  to  the  plat- 
form by  Mr.  P.  D.  McGregor,  the  President,  and  as  I 
ascended  the  steps  Secretary  Whitney  of  Detroit  fol- 
lowed closely  behind  me  and  there  before  an  audience  of 
600  or  more  men,  presented  me  with  a  very  fine  Swiss 
watch,  which  I  was  afterwards  told,  cost  $175,  as  a  tes- 
timonial on  the  part  of  the  interested  Companies  for  my 
services  and  my  unyielding  persistency  in  hanging  on  to 
this  case  as  I  had  done. 

This  decision  of  our  Ohio  Supreme  Court  made  it 
clear  that  an  appraisal,  when  demanded  by  either 
party,  was  precedent  to  recovery  and  that  a  suit  could 
not  be  maintained  in  our  Ohio  Courts  in  the  name  of  a 
deceased  person  or  in  a  firm  where  one  member  of  the 
firm  was  dead.  In  the  meantime  one  member  of  the 
firm  had  died. 

Associated  with  me  on  the  Committee  were  Captain 
J.  M.  Wallace,  Mr.  Willis  O.  Robb  and  Mr.  Geo.  M. 
Winwood,  whose  loyalty,  good  advice  and  wise  counsel 
were  helpful  and  strengthened  my  courage  at  times 
when  it  faltered. 


165 


Bill  Helrazer 

Our  Agent  at  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  reported  a  loss  of 
$800.00,  (1  do  not  remember  the  number  of  the  pohcy 
now,  but  this  is  not  material)  on  a  new  frame  dwelling 
located  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  the  country.  When 
I  reached  that  city,  our  agent  was  unable  to  give  me  any 
definite  information  as  to  the  location  of  the  property  or 
how  I  could  reach  it,  and  this  being  the  case  he  called  in 
the  Sheriff  of  the  County  who  mapped  out  the  road  with 
a  pencil  on  a  sheet  of  manilla  wrapping  paper  with  such 
precision  and  accuracy  that  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
keeping  it. 

He  noted  a  large  oak  tree  at  one  turn — a  school  house 
at  another — a  church  at  another — a  running  stream  at 
another  with  as  much  accuracy  as  a  surveyor  could  have 
done.  He  asked  me  if  I  was  going  out  to  settle  a  loss  for 
Bill  Helrazer  and  when  I  told  him  I  was,  he  inquired  if 
I  "carried  fire  arms  with  me,"  and  replying  that  I  did 
not,  he  said  to  me  that  I  "had  better  take  someone  with 
me  as  Helrazer  was  a  desperado,  the  worst  man  in  that 
section  of  the  country  and  had  been  guilty  of  practically 
every  crime  on  the  calendar,  but  with  all,  he  was  a  cow- 
ard. He  also  said  "there  is  a  family  living  in  the  same 
neighborhood  by  the  name  of  O'Connor  and  the  hus- 
band in  this  family  (John)  is  a  very  warm  friend  of  mine 
and  will  do  anything  to  accommodate  me.  You  go 
directly  to  him  and  say  that  I  have  sent  you  and  tell 
him  about  this  loss  and  he  will  do  anything  he  can  to 
favor  you  on  my  account." 

During  the  afternoon  of  a  hot  August  day,  a  son  of 
our  agent  and  myself  drove  across  the  indicated  running 
stream,  as  directed,  and  up  a  private  lane  to  the  home 
of  Mr.  O'Connor,  who  was  at  the  time  in  the  front 


166 


yard  playing  croquet  with  his  two  daughters.  The 
priest  of  the  parish  had  paid  them  a  pastoral  visit  that 
day.  The  dinner,  which  had  not  yet  been  removed 
from  the  table  was  good  enough  to  satisfy  the  tastes  of 
an  epicure.  They  had  stewed  chicken  with  cream 
gravy,  mashed  potatoes,  yellow  country  butter,  country 
ham  and  eggs,  cold  milk,  home  made  biscuits,  etc. 

As  soon  as  I  said  to  Mr.  O'Connor  that  I  had  been 
directed  to  him  by  the  Sheriff  of  the  county,  he  immedi- 
ately commenced  to  unhitch  the  team  from  our  buggy 
and  told  us  to  go  to  the  house  and  get  our  dinners  which 
the  good  wife  would  gladly  serve  to  us.  After  the  meal 
had  been  partaken  of  I  asked  John  to  take  a  walk  with 
me  and  as  we  went  up  the  side  of  a  mountain  on  which 
there  were  a  number  of  sheep  feeding  and  where  there 
was  an  orchard,  I  explained  the  purpose  of  our  visit. 
His  somewhat  emphatic  response  was  "the  dom  scound- 
rel." Come  along  with  me  and  I  will  show  you  what 
this  villain  has  been  doing.  The  house  your  insurance 
covers  is  described  as  being  located  at  the  Southwest 
corner  of  two  roads  crossing  each  other,  does  it  not?,  and 
I  said  that  it  did.  Pointing  to  a  heap  of  charred  logs 
in  the  valley  below  us  he  said,  "That  was  his  old  house 
and  yonder  is  his  new  house,  as  you  now  see,  located  at 
the  corner  of  the  cross  roads.  He  has  burned  his  old 
house,  the  scoundrel,  thinking  that  you  would  not 
come  to  investigate  the  loss,  and  that  he  would  have 
$800.00  clear  money."  The  old  house  had  been  an  old 
tumble  down  affair  and  of  no  value  whatever. 

After  sizing  up  the  situation  and  discussing  it  with 
him,  I  said,  "Mr.  O'Connor,  if  you  will  get  the  story 
started  and  circulated  generally  in  this  neighborhood 
that  the  company  has  had  its  adjuster  and  also  its 
detective  on  the  ground  for  some  days   investigating 


167 


this  loss  so  that  it  will  reach  Helrazer,  I  think  that  it 
will  have  the  effect  of  so  frightening  him  that  he  will  not 
care  to  press  his  claim."  Mr.  O'Connor  said  he  would 
do  all  this  for  me. 

That  night  we  returned  to  Parkersburg  and  in  the 
morning  I  called  upon  the  sheriff,  related  the  circum- 
stances as  well  as  my  instructions  to  Mr.  O'Connor  and 
he  commended  me  for  the  course  that  I  had  pursued. 
He  expressed  his  opinion  that  as  soon  as  this  information 
came  to  Helrazer  he  would  get  to  Parkersburg  as  quickly 
as  possible  and  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  with  him, 
and  w^hich  he  did  within  a  very  few  days.  He  told  the 
sheriff  what  he  had  heard  concerning  the  adjuster  and 
detective  and  to  which  he,  the  sheriff  replied  "Yes,  I 
know  all  about  it — you  have  been  caught  this  time  with 
the  goods  on  you  and  I  see  no  way  for  you  to  escape  from 
it  and  you  will  have  to  face  the  music."  After  discuss- 
ing the  situation  and  Helrazer  pleading  very  earnestly, 
the  Sheriff  said  to  him  that  he  knew  some  of  the  officers 
of  the  company,  and  more  especially  the  adjuster, 
whom  he  knew  personally  and  that  if  he  (Helrazer)  would 
surrender  the  policy  he  might  possibly  persuade  him  to 
drop  all  prosecution  of  the  case.  The  scheme  worked 
out  beautifully  and  satisfactorily  and  as  we  had  planned. 
In  a  few  days  I  was  in  possession  of  the  policy  duly 
cancelled  and  surrendered. 

Otto  B.  Schott 

Otto was  a  slick  citizen,  somewhat  resource- 
ful in  his  mental  make-up,  active  and  enterprising  and 
when  in  his  working  clothes  he  operated  a  local  agency 
for  us  in  Southeastern  Ohio.  He  evidently  regarded 
such  a  connection  as  a  valuable  asset.     His  ownership  of 


168 


a  small  tract  of  land,  containing  five  acres  and  a  fairly 
comfortable  home  on  it  indicated  some  prosperity  on  his 
part.  As  a  "personal  compliment"  to  me  he  insured 
his  home,  including  the  contents,  in  our  company,  with 
the  stipulation  that  I  should  issue  the  policy  through 
my  State  agency.  His  five  acres  of  ground  had  been 
cut  out  of  the  north  east  corner  of  a  farm  of  160  acres, 
the  owner  of  which  was  anxious  that  his  land  should 
have  four  right  angle  corners  only,  and  this  desire  led 
him  to  make  a  liberal  offer  to  our  agent  for  his  small 
five  acre  parcel  and  when  doing  so  said  to  him  that  he 
would  give  as  much  for  the  land  without  the  house 
as  he  would  for  the  land  and  the  house. 

The  tempting  proposition  found  permanent  lodgment 
in  the  brain  of  our  Agent  and  enabled  him  to  work  out  a 
plan  by  which  the  "two  minds  met."  Our  company 
paid  him  for  the  house  and  this  farmer  paid  for  the  lot. 

Our  Agent  was  soon  afterwards  led  by  the  spirit  of 
adventure  into  "green  pastures  beside  the  still  waters" 
in  another  section  of  Ohio  where  he  established  a  local 
agency  in  which  our  company  was  not  represented. 

My  mind  was  never  entirely  free  of  the  suspicion  that 
this  loss  was  a  wilful,  deliberate  fraud,  but  I  was  unable 
to  discover  any  evidence  which  I  could  turn  to  account. 

In  less  than  two  years  after  this  incident  Mrs. 

did  the  unwifely  act  of  cutting  the  strands  of  their 
marital  bonds  by  deserting  her  husband  and  moving  to 
Columbus,  where  she  set  up  housekeeping  on  her  own 
account  and  gave  as  one  of  her  reasons  for  doing  so  that 
her  husband  had  burned  their  home  at  A ,  to  ob- 
tain the  insurance  money,  but  she  refused  to  go  into 
Court  and  testify  against  him,  though  she  had  repeat- 
edly made  this  charge.  Had  she  done  so,  under  the 
circumstances,  her  testimony  would,  we  feared,  have 


169 


been  so  strongly  tainted  with  prejudice  as  to  make  it 
valueless  to  us  in  a  prosecution.  "Personal  compli- 
ments" sometimes  turn  out  to  be  expensive  favors. 

Mr.  Urah  Scamp 

The  claimant  was  a  stock  raiser  and  apparently  a  well 
to  do  farmer  also.     He  bore  a  good  reputation  among 

the  citizens  of  his  community  near  S ,  Ohio,  and 

was  commonly  supposed  to  be  in  good  financial  circum- 
stances.    He  owned,  among  other  properties  a  two  story 

frame  store  building  in  the  village  of  N ,  Ohio, 

and  late  one  night  during  a  village  dance  in  a  hall  not 
far  away,  this  property  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  and 
in  the  absence  of  any  apparatus  for  extinguishing  it,  the 
building  was  burned  to  the  ground.  The  circumstances 
attending  this  loss  were  of  a  sufficiently  suspicious  nat- 
ure to  justify  investigation  and  they  convinced  me  that 
the  assured  had  burned  the  property. 

Mr.  H ,  a  fine  old  Quaker,  was  at  that  time  our 

representative  at  S ,  and  when  I  hinted  to  him  my 

suspicions,  he  threw  up  both  hands  and  requested  me  in 
no  uncertain  language  to  make  no  charges  of  that  kind 
against  his  friend  and  so  honorable  a  gentleman — that 
he  would  not  tolerate  any  such  defamation  of  his  char- 
acter and  if  the  Angel  Gabriel  was  to  appear  and  make 
the  charges  I  had  made,  he  would  not  believe  them. 

Well,  I  left  him  after  this  interview,  pursued  my  own 
course,  took  my  own  time  for  the  adjustment  and  it 

finally  wound  up  in  the  Common  Pleas  Court  of  M 

County,  which  sent  two  young  men,  who  were  merely 
tools  of  and  had  been  employed  by  the  assured  to  burn 
the  building,  to  the  Penitentiary  and  permitted  the 
guilty  party  to  go  unpunished — a  strange  application  of 

170 


justice  and  a  questionable  interpretation  of  law,  but  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Court  made  the  Company 
liable  for  an  incendiary  loss. 

Sol.  Braun 

Mr.  Sol.  Braun  had  without  publication,  changed  his 
name  for  convenience  and  for  business  purposes  to  S. 
Brown.  He  was  one  of  the  children  of  the  circumcision. 
For  some  unknown  reasons,  he  had  been  attracted  to 

W ,  as  a  promising  trading  point  to  carry  on  his 

business,  and  he  brought  with  him  a  stock  of  clothing 
and  gents'  furnishings  with  which  he  was  able  to  make  a 
display.  The  cash  value  of  his  merchandise  shown  by 
bills  of  purchase  was  about  $4000.00  and  upon  which  he 
carried  insurance  at  the  time  of  the  disaster  of  $10,000. 
There  was  but  one  key  to  the  front  and  one  key  to  the 
back  door,  and  both  were  carried  by  Sol.  The  back 
door  was  commonly  secured  by  a  heavy  bar,  the  ends  of 
which  rested  in  sockets  fastened  to  the  door  frame.  The 
story  that  the  store  had  been  burglarized  was  too  thin 
to  merit  compassing  consideration. 

We  found  that  coal  oil  had  been  freely  used  and  had 
been  generally  distributed  throughout  the  room,  on  the 
stock  in  different  locations,  but  more  especially  on  the 

goods  in  the  drawers,  which  Mr.  B was  unable  to 

satisfactorily  account  for.  After  spending  a  couple  of 
days  on  the  job  I  called  personally  upon  nine  different 

merchants  doing  business  in  W and  asked  them 

to  meet  me  in  the  parlors  of  the  hotel  at  9 :00  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  which  they  agreed  to  do,  and  in  fact 
they  all  did.  The  assured  was  also  present  by  appoint- 
ment and  at  my  request.  It  devolved  upon  me  to  state 
the  object  of  the  meeting — the  reason    for  their   being 

171 


called  together  and  to  also  make  a  presentation  of  the 
facts  to  my  jury  as  I  found  them.  Having  related  to 
these  gentlemen  all  the  obtainable  information  I  had  in 
regard  to  the  doors  and  windows — in  regard  to  the  value 
of  the  stock  and  the  insurance  thereon — in  regard  to  the 
liberal  use  of  coal  oil,  I  said  to  them  that  I  had  given  to 
them  facts  that  in  my  opinion,  could  not  be  controverted 
and  if  we  paid  this  assured  anything  it  would  be  with 
money  that  belonged  to  the  patrons  of  our  Company, 
among  whom  were  some  of  the  merchants  present — 
I  then  proposed  to  leave  the  matter  in  their  hands  to 
decide  whether  I  should  allow  this  claimant  anything  or 
not,  to  which  my  claimant  assented.  I  then  appealed 
to  Mr.  Brown  to  make  any  corrections  in  my  statements 
or  any  denial  of  them,  if  they  were  not  true. 

After  some  deliberation  my  selected  and  accommoda- 
ting Jury  rendered  their  verdict  that  the  two  companies 
interested  (one  of  which  was  the  Aetna)  should  return 
to  the  assured  the  premiums  he  had  paid  on  his  policies, 
and  that  he  should  thereupon  surrender  the  same  to  the 
companies,  which  he  did.  He  did  not  continue  in  busi- 
ness nor  maintain  his  citizenship  very  long  thereafter  in 

the  town  of  W .     This  method  of  settling  losses 

would,  if  commonly  practiced,  be  attended  with  some 
risk  and  I  would  not  recommend  it  in  cases  where  one 
does  not  "know  the  jury." 

Mr.  Minos  Honor 

Minos   Honor  was  a  solicitor  with  headquarters  at 

L H ,  Ohio.       Considerable  freedom  and 

latitude  had  been  extended  to  him  out  of  consideration 
for  his  faithful  and  intelligent  services.  Among  his 
many  patrons  he  had  successfully  solicited  was  Mr.  Sam 


172 


Small,  who  had  recently  completed  a  dwelling,  the  cost 
to  construct  was  $1000.00,  in  addition  to  the  work  done 
by  the  assured.  Upon  an  application  very  fully  and 
clearly  filled  out  I  issued  through  my  State  Agency  a 
policy  to  the  assured  for  the  sum  of  $800.00,  and  think- 
ing when  I  did  so,  that  we  had  captured  a  good  risk. 

Not  many  months  after  this  transaction  was  closed  I 
received  a  notice  from  Minos  stating  that  this  particular 

property  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  that  Mrs.  S 

was  engaged  in  ironing  and  that  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  the  upper  part  of  the  building  was  discov- 
ered to  be  on  fire  and  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were 
only  able  to  save  a  few  of  the  household  goods.  Just 
what  it  was  that  made  me  suspicious  of  the  case  I  do  not 
know — possibly  it  was  some  sort  of  intuition,  and  I 
made  every  excuse  possible  along  from  time  to  time 
to  delay  the  adjustment.  At  one  time  I  would  ask 
for  further  particulars,  at  another  time  I  asked  for 
a  builder's  estimate  and  having  exhausted  all  of  my 

excuses  for  delay  I  sent  Mr.  S a  blank  Proof  of 

Loss,  which  in  due  time  was  returned  properly  execu- 
ted, signed  by  the  claimant  and  bore  the  signature  and 
seal  of  a  Notary  Public. 

It  was  a  very  hot  afternoon  in  the  month  of  August 
when  I  visited  the  village  and  first  made  my  way  to  the 
postofhce  where  I  met  an  elderly  man  seated  in  a  chair, 
smoking  a  stogie  and  fanning  himself  to  keep  cool.  In 
reply  to  my  inquiries,  (after  introducing  myself),  he 
informed  me  that  he  was  the  United  States  official  pre- 
siding over  that  postofhce,  that  he  had  lived  there  for  a 
number  of  years,  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
people  in  that  section  of  the  country,  that  he  was  a  per- 
sonal friend  to  Mr.  Small,  that  he  got  his  mail  there,  and 
that   he   was   quite   familiar   with    his   signature.     In 

173 


responding  to  my  further  inquiries  as  to  his  occupation, 
personal  whereabouts,  etc.,  he  went  with  me  to  the  front 
door  and  pointed  out  a  new  residence  not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away,  which  he  said  was  owned  by 
and  was  the  present  home  of  Mr.  Small  and  his  family. 
He  furthermore  said  that  Mr.  Small  had  never  had  a  fire, 
that  he  was  regarded  as  honest,  an  upright  citizen  and 
enjoyed  the  respect  of  that  community.  Taking  out 
the  Proof  of  Loss  I  asked  him  to  examine  the  signature 
of  the  claimant  which  he  did  and  promptly  stated  that 
it  was  a  forgery.  It  was  not  long  thereafter  when  Mr. 
Small  dropped  into  the  Postoffice  to  see  if  he  had  any 
mail  and  after  being  introduced  to  him  I  asked  him  if  he 
had  a  policy  in  our  Company,  to  which  he  replied  that 
he  had.  He  furthermore  stated  that  he  had  lived  in  that 
section  practically  all  of  his  life,  that  he  had  never  had  a 
loss  of  any  kind  by  fire,  that  he  had  never  made  a  claim 
for  loss  on  any  company  and  that  he  had  never  executed 
any  papers  of  any  kind  for  an  insurance  claim,  either 
before  a  Notary  or  any  other  officer.  When  I  exhibited 
the  Proof  of  Loss  to  which  his  signature  was  attached  he 
became  greatly  agitated  and  pronounced  it  a  fraud  and 
a  forgery. 

In  company  with  him  and  the  Postmaster  we  drove 
that  evening  some  15  or  20  miles  to  a  little  coal  mining 
town  on  a  branch  of  the  Hocking  Valley  Railroad  where 
we  found  a  gentleman  whose  name  was  the  same  as  that 
attached  to  the  Proof  of  Loss  as  Notary.  He  too, 
denied  the  genuineness  of  the  signature,  said  that  it  was 
a  fraud  and  a  forgery,  that  he  had  not  been  a  Notary  for 
two  or  more  years,  that  he  never  had  assisted  in  the  exe- 
cution of  a  Proof  of  Loss  against  any  Company  and  that 
the  seal  he  had  formerly  used  was  kept  on  the  desk  in  the 
Railroad  Station.     He  said  that  this  office  had,  only 

174 


a  few  months  before,  been  broken  into  and  inasmuch  as 
there  were  no  evidences  of  a  robbery  being  committed  it 
was  quite  conclusive  to  him  now  that  the  party  had 
broken  in  to  use  his  seal. 

I  had  carefully  preserved  all  the  correspondence  and 
the  papers  pertaining  to  this  case.     Late  that  night  we 

three  and  the   Notary   drove   to    A where   we 

remained  all  night  and  the  next  morning  we  called  at 
the  office  of  a  couple  of  leading  attorneys,  to  whom  we 
gave  a  full  history  of  this  affair  with  my  written  doc- 
uments as  evidence  and  after  doing  so  one  of  them  made 
the  statement  that  I  had  the  most  complete  line  of  evi- 
dence against  this  solicitor  that  he  had  ever  had  present- 
ed to  him,  and  that  his  conviction  was  as  sure  as  would 
be  his  arrest.  Papers  were  at  once  gotten  out  and  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  when  it  was  discovered  that 
we  would  be  unable  to  show  or  prove  in  what  county 
the  crime  had  been  committed  and  from  the  fact  that 
all  of  his  correspondence  had  been  placed  on  trains  with- 
out going  through  the  Postoffice,  and  through  this  weak- 
ness in  our  Ohio  Laws  we  were  obliged  to  drop  the  case. 

In  the  name  of  his  old  and  respected  father  he  begged 
for  mercy  and  with  his  promise  to  lead  an  upright  life, 
I,  so  far  as  I  could,  "blotted  out  his  iniquity." 


I  have  been  associated,  officially  and  otherwise,  with 
Religious  and  Fraternal  organizations,  with  Humane 
and  Patriotic  Societies,  Civic  Bodies  and  Political 
parties  and  my  experiences  and  observations  have  clear- 
ly convinced  me  that  to  keep  the  body  and  mind  in  a 
healthy  condition  they  should  have  diversified  activities. 

175 


Asked  to  produce  my  Tale  of  Brick  and  having  no 
straw  furnished  me  I  have  been  compelled  to  roam  over 
the  fields  of  uncertain  memory  to  get  what  stubble  I 
could  find  for  this  purpose  and  in  fact  this  is  offered 
as  my  excuse  for  errors  and  omissions. 

Often  in  my  dreams  have  I  given  up  my  chosen 
occupation  and  returned  to  the  old  farm  home  to  share 
the  cares  and  burdens  of  my  mother — to  the  old  home 
with  its  garden  of  flowers  and  fruits  in  their  season — 
with  its  pure  spring  water  gurgling  from  a  fountain — 
where  I  could  own  a  faithful  dog  and  make  friends  and 
pets  of  the  birds  and  dumb  animals,  but  on  wakening 
I  found  these  to  be  only  pleasant  dreams  never  to  be 
realized. 

To  all  plays  there  must  be  an  ending — a  time  when 
the  curtain  must  drop  and  the  actors  retire  from  the 
stage.  I  am  now  within  a  few  laps  of  my  85th  mile- 
stone, and  as 

"Time  has  laid  his  hand 
Upon  my  heart,  gently,  not  smiting  it. 
But  as  a  harper  lays  his  open  hand 
Upon  his  harp  to  deaden  its  vibrations." 

So  I  make  my  departing  bow — retire  behind  the 
curtain  with  a  smiling  face,  a  cheerful  heart,  and  say 
Adieu. 


176 


Appendix 


177 


Appendix 

Among  the  personal  sketches  furnished  for  historical 
purposes,  the  following  named  Field  Men  give  the  dates 
of  their  appointments,  showing  continuous  service  of 
25  or  more  years. 


Date  of 

Name 

Commenced  with 

Appointment 

Bonar,  L.  J. 

Ins.  Co.  of  North  America 

1872 

Boning,  H.  E. 

Cincinnati  Underwriters 

1891 

Brooks,  H.  M. 

New  York  Underwriters 

1870 

Carey,  H.  W. 

Phoenix  of  Connecticut 

1894 

Clayton,  H.  W. 

Firemens,  Dayton 

1879 

Gray,  John  H. 

Connecticut 

1890 

Hoover,  John 

Orient 

Huggard,  R.  T. 

Springfield,  F.  &  M. 

1888 

Julian,  N.  T. 

Cooper 

1893 

Loomis,  C.  R. 

Syndicate,  Minn. 

1892 

Raynolds,  R.  L. 

Continental 

1884 

Smith,  T.  H. 

Firemens,  Dayton 

1883 

Wallace,  J.  M. 

Cooper,  Dayton 

1870 

Wasson,  A.  M.  L. 

Winwood,  Geo.  M. 

Phoenix  of  Connecticut 

1870 

Weinland,  J.  A. 

Continental 

1874 

Woodbury,  Cyrus 

Northern 

1886 

Wood,  C.  0. 

Dayton  of  Dayton 

1906 

178 


Members  of  the  First  Ohio  State  Board 

George  W.  Adams  was  an  affable,  courteous  gentleman  and 
was  always  ready  and  willing  to  give  advice  and  extend  help  to 
the  younger  members  of  the  fraternity.  During  his  business 
career  he  was  officially  connected  with  different  Companies  as 
State  and  Special  Agent.  He  also  did  service  for  the  Western 
Union  and  was  President  of  the  Fire  Underwriters  Association 
in  1879.  He  met  with  financial  reverses  and  died,  a  poor  man  at 
Tiffin,  Ohio  in  1904. 

H.  H.  Beattie  was  Secretary  of  a  Cincinnati  local  Insurance 
Company  of  which  Mr.  Gazzam  Gano  was  President. 

A.  C.  Blodgett,  commonly  known  as  Judge  Blodgett,  was 
State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Franklin  of  Philadelphia  for 
Ohio  and  Michigan,  with  headquarters  at  Detroit.  He  died  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee  in  1890. 

C.  E.  Bliven,  for  some  years  was  State  Agent  for  the  Manhat- 
tan Insurance  Company  of  New  York  (the  old  Manhattan)  and 
was  afterward  made  General  Agent  of  the  Howard  Insurance 
Company  with  headquarters  at  Toledo.  The  Organization  of 
the  original  or  first  Ohio  State  Board  was  largely  due  to  his  efforts. 
He  was  its  first  Secretary,  and  it  was  his  mind  and  genius  that 
established  the  Northwestern  Fire  Underwriters  Association  of 
which  he  was  chosen  Secretary  and  in  1877  was  selected  as  Pres- 
ident. He  was  afterwards  Manager  at  Chicago  for  the  American 
Pennsylvania.     He  died  in  1896. 

L.  J.  Bonar,  Mansfield,  Ohio — State  Agent  for  the  Insurance 
Company  of  North  America,  is  now  (in  1920)  rounding  out  his 
48th  year  of  continuous  service  with  that  company. 

J.  M.  DeCamp,  General  Agent  for  the  L  and  L  and  G  was  an 
active  member  in  the  Western  Union  and  served  on  various 
important  committees.  He  was  chairman  of  Local  B.  Com.  No. 
1  and  served  one  term  as  President  of  our  Ohio  State  Board. 

Andrew  J.  Gardner  was  a  Local  Agent  at  Columbus  and  the 
State  Agent  for  the  Hartford  Fire.  He  was  a  man  of  much  dig- 
nity of  manner,  of  good  judgment  and  was  universally  respected 
by  the  members  of  the  fraternity  and  the  local  agents. 

179 


J.  B.  Hall  was  Secretary  of  the  Home  of  Columbus  and  was 
afterward  selected  as  its  President.  He  was  an  active  member  of 
the  Western  Union  and  also  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Provisional 
Committee.  Was  a  General  Adjuster  at  Chicago  at  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1904. 

W.  P.  Harford  was  a  teacher  in  the  Public  Schools  at  Mor- 
row, Ohio  and  was  one  of  the  three  of  the  County  School  Exam- 
iners. He  commenced  his  business  career  as  a  Solicitor  for  the 
Aetna  Insurance  Company  in  which  he  achieved  success.  He  was 
promoted  to  the  position  of  State  Agent  of  the  Company  for 
Ohio.  After  service  of  a  number  of  years  he  was  transferred  to 
Omaha,  Nebraska  and  made  Assistant  Manager.  He  died  in 
1911. 

H.  K.  Lindsey  was  one  of  the  firm  of  Snider  and  Lindsey 
(George  K.  Snider)  who  were  General  Agents  of  the  Lancashire 
Insurance  Company  with  headquarters  at  Cincinnati.  Both  of 
these  gentlemen  took  an  active  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Ohio 
State  Board  and  contributed  to  its  success. 

C.  W.  Marshall  came  to  Ohio  from  Wisconsin  where  he  con- 
ducted a  Local  Agency,  served  a  couple  of  terms  in  their  State 
Legislature.  After  settling  in  Urbana  he  was  appointed  State 
Agent  for  Ohio  of  the  Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York, 
a  position  for  which  he  was  well  fitted  and  which  he  retained 
until  the  time  of  his  death  in  1890. 

Jacob  Peetrey  commenced  his  business  life  as  cashier  of  a 
Columbus  bank,  which  position  he  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Home  of  Columbus.  For  some  years  he  had 
official  connection  with  the  Franklin  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  one 
of  the  Secretaries  of  the  National  Board.  He  was  appointed 
State  Agent  for  the  Queen  Insurance  Company  and  was  in  its 
service  until  the  time  of  his  death  in  1891.  His  was  a  lovable 
character,  and  he  was  noted  for  his  generosity  and  hospitality. 
At  one  time  he  gave  a  banquet  to  the  State  and  Special  Agents  of 
Ohio  at  his  home  in  London,  Ohio. 

J.  S.  Reed  received  his  first  business  training  as  Cashier  of  a 
bank  at  Marion,  Ohio,  which  position  he  resigned  to  become 
General  Adjuster  for  the  Home  Insurance  Company  at  Colum- 
bus.    He  was  the  first  President  of  the  Ohio  State  Board,  and 


180 


was  President  of  the  Northwestern  Fire  Underwriters  Associa- 
tion.    He  died  in  1896. 

John  P.  Vance  was  a  teacher  in  a  Female  College  at  Mansfield, 
Ohio.  Was  appointed  a  State  Agent  of  the  Insurance  Company 
of  North  America  soon  after  the  establishment  of  its  Western 
Department  at  Erie,  Pa.  in  1864.  He  resigned  this  position  to 
enter  the  local  business  at  Cincinnati  with  Messrs.  White  &  Law- 
rence. He  afterwards  accepted  the  position  of  State  Agent  for 
the  Union  of  Philadelphia  and  later  on  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  General  Agent  of  the  Hamburg-Bremen  for  Ohio  and 
Kentucky.  He  died  at  Wyoming,  Ohio  in  1892  after  a  service  of 
some  years  as  General  Adjuster  for  the  Insurance  Company  of 
North  America. 

A.  J.  Waters  was  educated  for  the  ministry.  He  was  a  strong 
debater,  a  ready  writer  and  frequently  contributed  articles  to  our 
Insurance  Journals.  He  published  a  book  on  Adjustments. 
He  was  State  Agent  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  Cleveland  in  1880, 
of  the  Continental  Insurance  Company. 

George  M.  Winwood  who  is  living  at  Springfield,  Ohio  has 
nearly  reached  his  fifty  years  of  connection  as  State  Agent  of  the 
Phoenix  of  Hartford  in  Ohio.  This  long  business  service  has  been 
continuous  with  this  one  Company. 

Lest  We  Forget 

W.  N.  Bament,  General  Adjuster  for  the  Home  of  New  York, 
transferred  to  the  home  office  and  placed  in  charge  of  the  Loss 
Department  of  the  Company. 

H.  L.  Barr,  Special  Agent  for  the  Insurance  Company  of 
North  America  with  headquarters  at  Columbus,  transferred  to 
Indianapolis  and  made  State  Agent  of  the  Company  for  Indiana. 

W.  J.  Beggs,  State  Agent  for  the  Continental  Insurance  Com- 
pany was  placed  in  charge  of  the  organization  and  management  of 
the  Ohio  Audit  Bureau  and  afterward  transferred  to  Cleveland  and 
made  Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  local  Underwriters  Association. 

George  H.  Bell,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  North 
British  and  Mercantile  Insurance  Company,  was  made  an  Assis- 
tant Manager  in  the  department  office  at  Chicago.  Is  now 
Manager  of  the  National  of  Hartford  for  its  Western  Department. 

181 


H.  E.  Boning,  State  Agent  for  the  Milwaukee,  Mechanics, 
transferred  to  the  Company's  office  at  Milwaukee  and  given  a 
managerial  position. 

L.  J.  Braddock,  Special  Agent  for  the  Continental  Insurance 
Company  in  Ohio,  transferred  to  and  given  a  managerial  position 
in  the  Company's  Department  ofifice  in  Chicago.  Is  now  Assis- 
tant Manager  for  the  Insurance  Company  of  North  America, 
Philadelphia  Underwriters  and  Alliance  Insurance  Company  for 
their  Western  Department  under  Mr.  C.  R.  Tuttle. 

W.  H.  demons,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Fidelity, 
Phoenix,  was  transferred  to  the  office  of  the  Western  Depart- 
ment at  Chicago  and  placed  in  charge  of  its  loss  department. 

Ray  Decker,  Adjuster  for  the  Home  of  New  York  in  Ohio, 
transferred  to  the  Home  office  and  was  afterward  promoted  to 
Assistant  Manager  for  its  Pacific  Coast  Department  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal. 

Carroll  DeWitt,  promoted  to  the  position  of  Assistant  Agency 
Superintendent  of  the  General  Fire  Assurance  Company  of 
Paris,  France. 

J.  O.  Dye,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  German  American 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York  and  Manager  of  the  Farm 
Department.  This  Company  reinsured  the  Rochester  German, 
organized  the  Rochester  Underwriters  of  which  Mr.  Dye  was 
made  Manager  with  main  office  or  headquarters  in  New  York 
City. 

E.  D.  Elder,  Adjuster  for  the  Home  of  New  York  in  Ohio, 
transferred  to  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  given  charge  of  the  Company's 
Loss  Department. 

R.  E.  Gooch,  State  Agent  of  the  Liverpool  and  London  and 
Globe  Insurance  Company  for  Ohio.  Organized  and  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Western  Reserve  Insurance  Company  of  Cleve- 
land. This  Company  reinsured  its  outstanding  risks  and  Mr. 
Gooch  moved  to  New  York,  was  appointed  Special  Agent  of  the 
London  Insurance  Corporation  under  Mr.  Charles  L.  Chase, 
Manager.     He  died  in  1914. 

R.  D.  Harvey,  State  Agent  of  the  Royal  Exchange  Insurance 
Company,  was  promoted  to  Manager  of  this  corporation  with 
headquarters  in  New  York. 


182 


p.  J.  Hobbs,  State  Agent  of  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany in  Ohio,  was  transferred  to  the  Company's  general  office  in 
Chicago  and  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Loss  Department.  He  has 
been  retired  and  is  now  Hving  in  Pasadena,  California. 

James  C.  Johnston,  General  Adjuster  for  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  North  America,  was  sent  to  San  Francisco  to  adjust  the 
Company's  losses  from  the  earthquake  disaster.  While  there  on 
this  duty  he  was  made  Assistant  Manager  and  afterward  General 
Manager  of  the  Company  for  its  Pacific  Coast  Department.  He 
has  been  retired  and  is  now  living  at  Berkeley,  California. 

F.  M.  Jones,  State  Agent  for  the  Sun  of  England,  was  pro- 
moted to  Assistant  Manager,  Chicago,  Illinois  where  he  died  in 
1919. 

B.  B.  Law  commenced  traveling  as  Special  Agent  for  the 
Royal  Insurance  Company  in  the  early  seventies.  After  a  long 
service  on  the  road,  he  accepted  the  position  of  Adjuster  for  the 
Companies  represented  in  the  Law's  Insurance  Company  at  Cin- 
cinnati. At  his  own  request  he  was  retired  and  now  lives  at  Bay 
City,  Mich. 

J.  H.  MacFarlane  promoted  to  the  position  of  assistant  Sec- 
retary of  the  Niagara  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  New  York. 

Benjamin  Marot  graduated  from  Wesleyan  College,  Del- 
aware. Served  as  a  private  in  Birges  Sharpshooters  during  the 
Civil  War.  Was  under  General  Sherman  during  his  march 
through  Georgia.  On  his  return  was  appointed  State  Agent  of  the 
St.  Paul  Fire  &  Marine  Insurance  Company  and  was  promoted 
to  General  Agent  in  1882.  He  had  official  connection  with  the 
Company  until  1901,  when  at  his  own  request,  he  was  relieved. 
He  was  in  the  service  of  this  Company  for  42  years.  He  died  in 
1915. 

John  R.  Martin,  Special  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Conti- 
nental Insurance  Company,  transferred  to  its  Department  Office 
at  Chicago  and  given  a  managerial  position. 

John  G.  Monrose,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Conti- 
nental Insurance  Company.  Resigned  to  accept  a  position  in 
Philadelphia  as  General  Manager  of  the  Central  Adjustment 
Company. 

183 


R.  B.  Moore  conducted  a  Local  Agency  at  Cambridge,  Ohio 
and  was  State  Agent  for  the  Phoenix  of  Brooklyn.  He  was  a 
unique  character,  had  imagination  and  optimism  and  a  genial, 
jovial  disposition  which  made  him  a  favorite  among  his  assoc- 
iates.    He  died  in  1913. 

Willis  O.  Robb,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Liverpool 
and  London  and  Globe  Insurance  Company.  Resigned  to  accept 
the  position  of  Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  New  York  City  Fire 
Insurance  Exchange,  which  position  he  still  occupies. 

Neal  C.  Rowland,  State  Agent  of  the  London  Assurance  Cor- 
poration. Served  for  a  number  of  years  as  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer of  the  Ohio  Field  Club.  Severed  his  connection  with  the 
Corporation  and  accepted  a  position  as  State  Agent  for  the 
Michigan  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Company  for  New  York 
with  headquarters  at  Rochester. 

W.  H.  Sage,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  German-Amer- 
ican Insurance  Company  in  Ohio,  was  transferred  to  its  headquar- 
ters in  Chicago  as  an  Assistant  Manager  and  was  afterward  pro- 
moted to  the  ofhce  of  General  Manager  for  its  Western  Depart- 
ment. 

A.  G.  Sanderson,  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the  Aetna 
Insurance  Company  in  Ohio.  Was  made  Assistant  Manager  and 
afterward  Manager  of  the  Company  for  its  Pacific  Coast  Depart- 
ment. He  died  in  Berkeley,  California  in  1913.  He  was  first 
President  of  the  Ohio  Field  Club  and  served  two  terms  in  that 
capacity.  He  was  chairman  of  a  committee  which  prepared  and 
printed  a  very  complete  book  of  rules  for  the  guidance  and 
government  of  field  men  and  local  agents. 

R.  S.  Sayres  was  Special  Agent  under  Mr.  C.  W.  Marshall, 
State  Agent  for  Ohio  of  the  Home  of  New  York.  After  the  death 
of  Mr.  Marshall  he  continued  his  connection  with  the  Company 
for  a  number  of  years  and  he  severed  his  relations  and  was  appoint- 
ed State  Agent  for  the  Traders  of  Chicago.  With  the  failure  of 
the  Company  in  the  San  Francisco  disaster  in  1906  he  engaged 
in  the  local  business  with  a  brother  at  Wilmington,  Ohio.  He  died 
in  Dayton,  Ohio. 

George  W.  Sedgwick  came  to  the  Great  American  Insurance 
Company  from  the  Western  Factory  Association,  and  served  for 


184 


some  time  as  its  State  Agent  for  Ohio.  Upon  a  reorganization  of 
the  Western  Department's  ofifice  Mr.  Sedgwick  was  transferred 
and  given  a  managerial  position. 

J.  P.  Singleton,  commonly  known  as  "Judge",  State  Agent 
and  Adjuster  for  the  Niagara  Insurance  Company,  was  promoted 
to  the  position  of  Assistant  Manager  in  the  Home  Office  in  New 
York. 

John  E.  Smith  was  educated  for  the  law  and  graduated  with 
honors.  Taking  up  the  Fire  Insurance  business  as  a  side  issue  he 
made  such  a  success  as  to  attract  the  favorable  attention  of  the 
Ohio  Farmer's  Insurance  Company  for  which  he  was  a  Special 
Agent  and  Adjuster  for  many  years.  He  was  a  politician,  had  a 
fine  command  of  the  English  language  and  was  commonly  able 
to  hold  his  own  in  debate. 

Edward  Stanberry,   Special  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  the 
Royal  Insurance  Company,  was  transferred  to  the  Company's 
Department  at  Chicago  and  made  Superintendent  of  Agencies. 
He  died  at  Chester,  Wisconsin  in  1915. 

J.  C.  Wharton,  State  Agent  for  the  Sun  of  England.  Pro- 
moted to  Assistant  Manager,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Personal  Sketches 

Joseph  W.  Beck,  born  at  Columbus,  February  17,  1876. 
Parentage  German.  Educated  public  schools,  Columbus.  Mar- 
ried Miss  Nellie  G.  Bowen,  Cadillac,  Michigan,  March  4,  1906. 
Commenced  insurance  business  in  1894  as  office  clerk.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  for  the  Columbia  of  Dayton  in  1900.  In  the 
employ  of  the  National  Union  four  years  and  now  with  the 
Northern  of  New  York  as  Special  Agent  and  Supervising  Agent 
for  Michigan  and  for  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Columbus  and 
Toledo.     October  25,  1916. 

Charles  Benus,  born  at  Cincinnati,  August  4,  1879.  Paren- 
tage German.  Educated  public  schools,  attended  high  school  one 
year,  then  attended  Bartletts  Business  College.  Commenced 
insurance  business  in  1896  as  office  clerk.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  for  the  Eureka  Fire  and  Security  Insurance  Company  for 
Ohio  in  1904.     August  23,  1916. 


185 


Lewis  J.  Bonar,  born  Lucerne,  Knox  County,  Ohio,  March 
23,  1836.  Parentage  Scotch  and  Welsh.  Educated  at  country 
school  near  Lucerne,  Ohio.  Married  Julia  A.  Jackson  December, 
1862,  Belleville,  Ohio.  Married  Harriet  M.  Webb,  December, 
1901,  Erie,  Pa.  On  a  farm  until  1854.  Entered  the  mercantile 
business  as  a  clerk  at  Belleville,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance 
business  in  1865,  at  Mansfield,  as  Local  Agent,  representing  five 
companies.  All  failed  in  the  Chicago  fire.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  February  14,  1872  for  Insurance  Company  of  North  Amer- 
ica, for  Ohio  and  West  Virginia. 

Herbert  E.  Boning,  born  January  22,  1867  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  Parentage  German.  Educated  public  schools  Cincinnati, 
Commenced  insurance  business  in  1883  as  office  clerk.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  in  1891  for  Cincinnati  Underwriters.  Served 
1896  to  1899  Delaware  and  Reliance,  Philadelphia.  1900  to 
1901  Caledonia,  Scotland,  1902  Milwaukee  Mechanics.  Sep- 
tember 7,  1916. 

Herbert  M.  Brooks,  born  Erie,  Pa.  September  26,  1862. 
Parentage  English.  Educated  public  schools  Cleveland  and 
Austinburg.  Quit  school  while  in  8th  grade,  went  to  work  in 
printing  office.  Attended  one  year  normal  school  at  Austinburg. 
Married  Edith  May  Scovill  June  30,  1884  at  Andover,  Ohio. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Andover  August,  1884,  as 
Local  Agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  April,  1900  for  Germania 
Insurance  Company  for  Ohio.  Served  one  year  with  Springfield 
F  &  M  as  Special  Agent  in  Ohio  in  1886  or  1887. 

Henry  M.  Brooks,  born  Elyria,  Ohio,  June  23,  1848.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  public  schools,  Elyria,  Ohio.  Entered 
the  insurance  business  September  1,  1866,  and  has  been  contin- 
uously in  such  line  of  business  ever  since  and  will  complete  his 
fiftieth  year  September  1,  1916.  Married  Hattie  E.  Moore,  July 
6,  1870,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  who  died  October  18,1915.  Commenced 
in  1866  writing  fire  and  marine  insurance.  Appointed  Manager 
January,  1891  for  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  for  North- 
ern Ohio.  Acted  as  Special  Agent  for  New  York  Underwriters 
in  Northern  Ohio.  Acted  as  Manager  for  the  London  Assurance 
Corporation  of  England  for  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana  and  W^est 
Virginia  during  a  period  of  some  15  years  previous  to  1891. 
August  21,  1916. 


186 


Harry  W.  Carey,  born  Lebanon,  Ohio,  February  18,  1868. 
Parentage  American,  Educated  public  schools  and  Lebanon  Uni- 
versity at  Lebanon,  Ohio.  Married  Lida  Drake,  November  27, 
1894  at  Lebanon,  Ohio.  Entered  insurance  business  as  clerk  in 
his  father's  insurance  office.  Appointed  Special  Agent  March  1, 
1894  for  Phoenix  of  Hartford,  for  Ohio  and  West  Virginia. 
Resigned  from  Phoenix  to  take  Special  Agency  for  Western 
Ohio  for  the  Fidelity-Phoenix  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  New 
York,  March  1,  1911.     Sept.  25,  1916. 

Frank  C.  Carroll,  born  Munson,  Geauga  County,  Ohio, 
December  14,  1855.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Munson 
public  schools.  Studied  Law  at  Chardon  and  was  admitted  to  bar 
in  1878.  Married  Mary  M.  Miller  April  30,  1880  at  Chardon, 
Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  May,  1883  at  Willoughby 
as  Special  Agent  for  Cooper  Insurance  Company  for  Northern 
Ohio.  Served  with  Merchants,  Northwestern  National  and  Nat- 
ional of  Hartford,  Mercantile  of  Cleveland,  Phoenix  of  New  York 
and  Niagara.  Since  1893  has  been  engaged  in  the  adjustment  of 
losses  with  headquarters  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.     October  19,  1916. 

Harry  W.  Clayton,  born  September  7,  1851  at  Covington, 
Ky.  Parentage  English.  Educated  public  schools  Covington. 
Married  to  Stella  H.  Huslter  September  17,  1872  at  Troy,  Ohio. 
Entered  insurance  business  at  Dayton,  Ohio  in  1875  as  book- 
keeper. Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1879  for  Fireman's  Insu- 
rance Company,  Dayton,  Ohio.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in 
1883  for  Germania  Insurance  Company,  New  York. 

Wm.  Henry  demons,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  17,  1862. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Went  two  years  to  Woodward  High,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Married 
Ella  F.  Daugherty  April  29,  1885,  Higginsport,  Ohio.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  December  15,  1879  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
as  clerk  in  office  of  Insurance  Adjustment  Company.  Appointed 
Special  Agent,  January,  1886  for  Central  Department  Lancashire 
Insurance  Company  of  England.  Served  as  Special  Agent  for 
Fireman's  of  Dayton,  National  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford, 
and  Adjuster  Phoenix  Insurance  Company  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
August  25,  1916. 

Arthur  M.  Cole,  born  April  12,  1874  New  Baltimore,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.     Educated  public  and  high  schools  Marl- 

187 


boro,  Ohio.  Married  Mary  Nash,  August  18,  1897,  New  Bal- 
timore, Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  January  8,  1898 
AUiance,  Ohio  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  Decem- 
ber 1,  1908  Commercial  Union  Assurance  Company  and  Affiliated 
Companys.     August  28,  1916. 

Russell  D.  Cooke,  born  September  10,  1853,  Marietta,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools  and  college 
Marietta,  Ohio.  Married  Linnie  I.  Drown,  April  3,  1879  Mar- 
ietta, Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  January  1,  1892, 
Marietta,  Ohio  as  Agent.  Appointed  February  1,  1906  Special 
Agent  for  Germania  Fire  Insurance  Company,  New  York.  Sep- 
tember 30,  1916. 

Claude  Taylor  Deatrick,  born  June  2,  1858,  Defiance,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools  Defiance,  Ohio. 
Married  Hattie  E.  Osborn  July  6,  1882,  Defiance,  Ohio.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  September  25,  1875,  Defiance,  Ohio  as 
clerk  in  office  of  father,  J.  F.  Deatrick.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  July,  1879  by  C.  W.  Marshall  for  Home  of  New  York. 
Afterward  appointed  State  Agent  for  the  same  company  and  for 
Franklin  of  Philadelphia.     August  22,  1916. 

Claude  T.  Deatrick,  Jr.,  born  August  28,  1893,  Defiance,  O. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  and  high  school,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  June,  1908,  The 
Home  Insurance  Company  as  filing  and  supply  clerk.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  March, 
1913.     January  6,  1916. 

Robert  Sayres  Deatrick,  born  Defiance,  Ohio,  September  6, 
1887.  Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools  Colum- 
bus, Ohio  and  Ohio  State  University.  Married  Gladys  Buck 
December  29,  1914  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance 
business  June  10,  1907  at  Columbus  as  Special  Agent.  Served 
Home  office  as  examiner  Ohio  and  Michigan.  State  Agent  Citi- 
zens of  Baltimore.  State  Agent  Svea  Insurance  Company. 
January  13,  1917. 

Ray  Decker,  born  Lockbourne,  Ohio,  January  25,  1884.  Par- 
entage American.  Educated  Groveport  High  School.  Married 
Irma  F.  Immel  January  31,  1907  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced 
insurance    business    December    31,    1903,    Columbus,    Ohio    as 


188 


clerk  Ohio  Farm  Dept.  Home  Insurance  Company.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  September,  1905  for  Home  Insurance  Company, 
New  York.    August  26,  1916. 

George  Diebold,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  4,  1866. 
Parentage  German.  Educated  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Commenced 
insurance  business  February,  1881  at  Cincinnati  as  clerk.  Ap- 
pointed Special  Agent  about  1893  for  Atlas  Assurance  Com- 
pany. Served  Pacific  of  New  York  and  National  Union  of  Penn. 
August  28,  1916. 

Bernard  T.  Duffey,  born  at  Rockford,  Ills.,  July  5,  1869. 
Parentage  Irish.  Educated  Rockford  public  and  high  schools. 
Married  June  8,  1910,  Chicago,  Bertha  A.  Nye.  Commenced 
insurance  business  June,  1887,  Rockford,  Illinois  as  clerk  Rock- 
ford Insurance  Company.  Appointed  Special  Agent  April,  1898, 
same  Company.  Served  also  American  Insurance  Company, 
New  Jersey  and  Royal  Insurance  Company.     September  1,  1916. 

Robert  B.  Dunham,  born  Newark,  New  Jersey,  September 
16,  1873.  Parentage  American.  Educated  public  and  high 
schools  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Married  Barbara  Heitzman  Dec- 
ember 3,  1907  at  Camden,  New  Jersey.  Commenced  insurance 
business  January  1,  1888,  New  York  City  as  clerk  in  Insurance 
Brokers  office.  Appointed  Special  Agent  June  1,  1895,  Agricult- 
ural, New  York,  Suburban  Department.  Served  local  business 
Newark,  New  Jersey  1897  to  1901,  General  Agency,  Chicago, 
1902  to  1903,  Farmers  &  Merchants  S.  A.  Kansas,  1904  to  1905. 
Superintendent  Agencies,  Southern,  New  Orleans,  1906  to  1909, 
Firemens,  New  Jersey,  State  Agent,  1910  to  1913.  September 
25,  1916. 

Clifford  Benjamin  Dye,  born  Springfield,  Ohio,  June  11, 
1889.  Parentage  American.  Educated  public  and  high  schools, 
Springfield.  Two  years  at  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus, 
Ohio.  Married  Lola  M.  Hager,  November  27,  1912  at  Norwalk, 
Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  June  20,  1908,  Ohio 
Inspection  Bureau  as  Inspector.  Appointed  Special  Agent, 
March,  1911  for  German  American  and  German  Alliance.  Served 
as  local  agent,  Urbana,  Ohio,  one  year.  State  Agent  London 
Assurance  Company  two  years.  Special  Agent,  Western  Factory 
Insurance  Association. 


189 


Joseph  O.  Dye,  born  Abington,  Indiana,  February  3,  1858. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  District  schools  Indiana.  Grad- 
uated Eastman  Commercial  School,  Pougkkeepsie,  New  York. 
Married  Addie  B.  Goodfellow,  November  26,  1886  at  Springfield, 
Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  February  1,  1884  at  St. 
Louis,  Missouri  as  clerk  American  Central.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  March  1,  1886,  German  American,  New  York.  Also 
served  Amazon  of  Cincinnati  and  Royal  Insurance  Company. 
Now  Assistant  Manager  Rochester  German  Department.  Aug- 
ust 23,  1916. 

Edgar  D.  Elder,  born  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  July  17, 
1884.  Parentage  American.  Educated  public  and  high  schools, 
Philadelphia.  Married  May  E.  Kerkeslager  June  2,  1910  at 
Philadelphia.  Commenced  insurance  business  October,  1903  at 
Philadelphia  as  clerk  in  Franklin  Fire  Insurance  Company.  May 
1st.  1915  for  Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  the  Home 
Insurance  Company  having  purchased  the  Franklin  Company. 
August  22,  1916. 

August  B.  Fipp,  born  Ottawa,  Ohio,  December  23,  1885. 
Parentage  German.  Educated  public  schools,  Ottawa,  Ohio  and 
St.  Marys  College,  Dayton,  Ohio.  Married  Luverne  Wortman, 
November  3,  1915  at  Defiance,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance 
business  May,  1903  at  Ottawa  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  October  10,  1910  for  Hanover  Insurance  Company.  Aug- 
ust 28,  1916. 

Walter  Raleigh  Fogg,  born  Salem  Center,  Meigs  County, 
Ohio,  October  4,  187*2.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Vinton, 
Gallia  County,  Ohio.  Married  Gertrude  Baker,  June  6,  1895  at 
Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  in  1892  with 
State  Insurance  Department  as  Statistician  and  Examiner. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1901  for  New  York  Underwriters 
Agency.     August  28,  1916. 

Jesse  O.  Gable,  born  Peoria,  Illinois,  October  18,  1874.  Par- 
entage American.  Educated  Peoria,  Illinois  and  Illinois  Univer- 
sity. Married  Helen  Bonney  October  19, 1899  at  Peoria,  Illinois. 
Entered  the  insurance  business  in  1896  at  Peoria  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  Special  Agent,  1902,  for  Spring  Garden,  Pennsylvania. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  Aachen  and  Munich  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  Germany  in  1908.     September  5,  1916. 


190 


Vincent  L.  Gallagher,  born  Dansville,  New  York,  April  6, 
1890.  Parentage  American.  Educated  St.  Xavier  College, 
Cincinnati,  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology.  Married  Cecelia  A.  Newton  April  29, 
1914  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business 
August,  1913  at  Chicago  as  clerk  in  General  Agency.  Appointed 
October,  1914  Special  Agent  for  Aetna  Insurance  Company. 
August  21,  1916. 

John  W.  Goebel,  born  Shelby  county,  Ohio,  August  27,  1878. 
Parentage  German.  Educated  country  school,  high  school  at 
Quincy,  Ohio  and  attended  business  school  at  Valparaiso,  Ind. 
Married  Bess  A.  Horn  April  23,  1910  at  Huston,  Texas.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  June  3,  1901  at  Quincy,  Ohio  as  local 
agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  June  1,  1908  for  Hanover  of 
New  York.  Served  two  years.  Also  two  years  with  Michigan 
Fire  and  Marine,  Detroit,  Michigan,  Now  with  Pennsylvania 
Fire.     August  26,  1916. 

William  Brownell  Goodwin,  born  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
October  7,  1866.  Parentage  American.  Educated  St.  Pauls 
School,  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  and 
Yale  University.  Married  Mary  A.  V.  Hood  November  23,  1899 
at  Seattle,  Washington.  Commenced  insurance  business  October, 
1894  at  Seattle,  Washington  as  Agent  for  Aetna  Insurance 
Company.  Appointed  Special  Agent  for  company  in  1895. 
October  13,  1916. 

John  H.  Gray,  born  Chicago,  Illinois,  November  11,  1868- 
Parentage  English.  Educated  grade  and  night  schools,  Chicago. 
Married  Martha  E.  Gilbert,  August  1,  1892  at  Chicago,  Illinois. 
Commenced  insurance  business  November  11,  1877  at  Chicago 
as  office  boy.  Appointed  Special  Agent  March,  1890  for  Connec- 
ticut of  Hartford.  Served  with  Chicago  Board  of  Underwriters, 
1877  to  1881.  With  Western  and  British  America,  1882,  T.  S. 
Cunningham  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1883  to  1885.  With  Connecticut 
1885  to  1894  and  North  British  &  Mercantile  1895  to  present 
date.     August  21,  1916. 

Edward  L.  Green,  born  Cambridge,  Ohio  in  1883.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Cambridge,  and  Ohio  State  Univer- 
sity. Commenced  insurance  business  in  1906  at  Cambridge,  Ohio 
as  local  agent.  Appointed  1909  Special  Agent  for  Connecticut 
Fire  Insurance  Company.     September  5,  1916. 

191 


Mortimer  F.  Grim,  born  Westerville,  Ohio.  March  12,  1872. 
Parentage  American  and  Welsh.  Educated  pubHc  schools,  Col- 
umbus, Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  June  1,  1887  at 
Columbus  as  office  boy  for  Franklin  Insurance  Company  of 
Columbus.  Appointed  Special  Agent  and  later  as  Secretary. 
August  1,  1897,  Special  Agent  for  Union  of  Philadelphia.  Served 
with  Phoenix  of  Hartford  since  May  1,  1911  as  Special  Agent. 
August  21,  1916 

Robert  Phillip  Hare,  Jr.,  born  Louisville,  Kentucky,  August 
19,  1880.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Louisville  in  public 
and  high  schools.  Married  Helen  C.  Berryman  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  April  12,  1909.  Commenced  insurance  business  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  July  1,  1899  as  office  boy.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  January  1,  1908  for  London  &  Lancashire  and 
Orient  of  Hartford.  Special  Agent  in  Kentucky  in  1913  for 
Insurance  Company  of  North  America.  Transferred  in  Decem- 
ber 1913  to  Ohio.     August  28,  1916. 

Rollin  B.  Heaton,  born  Salem,  Ohio,  July  24,  1867.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Salem  public  schools  and  Pittsburgh 
High  School.  Married  Marie  W.  White  at  Pittsburgh,  October 
11,  1891.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Salem,  Ohio,  May, 
1891  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  March  1,  1898 
for  Cincinnati  Underwriters. 

Peter  J.  Hobbs,  born  Ottawa,  Illinois,  June  22,  18-18.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Joliet,  Illinois  public  and  night 
schools.  Married  Sarah  A.  Baker,  October  9,  1872  at  Willough- 
by,  Ohio.  Grew  up  in  insurance  business  commencing  in  1866 
in  local  agency  of  P.  C.  Royce  in  Joliet.  Was  appointed  Special 
Agent  for  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  in  1885  for  Ohio 
and  West  Virginia,  became  General  Adjuster  for  company  at  its 
Chicago  office  in  1893,  later  became  Manager  of  Loss  Department 
continuing  in  this  capacity  until  1913  when  he  retired  and 
moved  to  Pasadena,  California. 

Richard  T.  Huggard,  born  Chicago,  Illinois,  August  20,  1863. 
Parentage  Irish.  Educated  Kinzie  school,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
Married  Grace  A.  Saxton,  November  30,  1903  at  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Commenced  insurance  business  October  7,  1880  at  Chicago,  as 
office  boy  for  Springfield  F.  &  M.  Company.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  November  24,  1888  for  same  company.     August  22,  1916. 

192 


Joseph  E.  Innis,  born  Georgetown,  Ohio,  June  28,  1864. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Country  School,  Georgetown, 
National  Normal  University,  Lebanon.  Married  Ivah  B.  Walker, 
September  4,  1889  at  Williamsburg,  Ohio.  Commenced  insur- 
ance business  at  W'illiamsburg,  June  1892  as  local  agent.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  January,  1907  for  German  American  &  German 
Alliance.     August  21,  1916. 

Aaron  W.  Jones,  born  Columbus,  Ohio  in  1871.  Parentage 
Welsh-Irish.  Educated  Columbus  public  schools,  also  Ohio  State 
University.  Married  Grace  D.  Batterfield  in  1897  at  Columbus, 
Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  1893  at  Columbus  as 
Manager  of  local  agency.  Appointed  Special  Agent  February, 
1905  of  New  Hampshire  Insurance  Company. 

Frank  Marshall  Jones,  born  Hartford,  Connecticut,  May  29, 
1877.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
Married  Laura  M.  Diekmeier,  October  24,  1905  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  January  1,  1893  at  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut  as  office  boy.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1899 
for  Scottish  LInion  &  National  Insurance  Company.  Also  served 
as  Special  Agent  for  Sun  Insurance  Company  in  1903. 

Newell  T.  Julian,  born  on  farm  Fairfield  County,  Ohio. 
Parentage  French  and  German.  Educated  public  schools,  South 
Bloomfield  and  Ashville,  Ohio.  Married  Mabelle  Thrall,  Novem- 
ber 21,  1900  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business 
at  Ashville,  Ohio  in  1883  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  May,  1893  for  The  Cooper  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  Served 
Phoenix  of  England,  June,  1895  to  August,  1896.  Then  with 
Agricultural  Insurance  Company  continuously  since  that  date. 
September  14,  1916. 

Edwin  Alexis  Keeler,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  January  7,  1870. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools  Columbus.  Ohio. 
Married  Ina  Kuenkle  November  8,  1898  at  Bellefontaine,  Ohio. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  January  1, 
1901,  Ohio  Inspection  Bureau.  Appointed  Special  Agent  Novem- 
ber 1 ,  1904  for  Farmers  &  Merchants  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  Aug- 
ust 21,  1916. 

Alois  Kessler,  born  St.  Jngbert,  Germany,  February  11,  1859. 
Parentage  German.     Educated  St.  Jngbert,  German}-.     Served 


193 


three  years  as  Professor  of  Schools  in  Germany  and  came  to 
America,  December  22,  1880.  Married  Anna  Heiny,  August  27, 
1881  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  at 
Mansfield,  Ohio,  December,  1888  as  local  agent.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  February  5,  1906  for  Germania  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York.     October  25,  1916. 

Chas.  W.  Kimmel,  born  Fostoria,  Ohio,  January  9,  1870. 
Parentage  German  and  American.  Educated  Angola,  Indiana. 
Graduated  Tri-State  College,  Angola.  Married  Hortense  Abrams 
January  28,  1898  at  Butler,  Indiana.  Commenced  insurance 
business  June,  1902  at  Kendallville,  Indiana  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  January,  1906  Special  Agent  for  German  National  of 
Chicago.  Served  as  Special  Agent  1907  and  1908  Germania  of 
New  York  in  Indiana,  1909  to  1911  State  Agent  Spring  Garden 
of  Philadelphia  for  Indiana.  Now  State  Agent  for  Camden  Fire 
Insurance  of  Camden,  New  Jersey.     August  28,  1916. 

Chas.  F.  Knecht,  born  Dayton,  Ohio,  October  19,  1863. 
Parentage  German.  Educated  Dayton,  Ohio.  Married  Minnie 
Hanawalt  July  8,  1897  at  Detroit,  Michigan.  Commenced 
insurance  business  April  1,  1882  at  Dayton,  Ohio  as  Assistant 
Bookkeeper,  Dayton  Insurance  Company.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  April  1,  1890  for  Ohio  Insurance  Company  of  Dayton, 
Ohio.  Served  Firemens  Insurance  Company  from  1886  to  1890. 
Filled  every  desk  except  Secretary.  Left  to  go  with  The  Ohio  as 
Special  Agent.  Served  four  years.  Resigned  to  accept  position 
of  Secretary  of  Board  of  Underwriters.      September  27,   1916. 

George  Howard  Kramer,  born  Dayton,  Ohio,  January  21, 
1881.  Parentage  German  and  Swiss.  Educated  Dayton,  Ohio 
Cornell  University,  N.  Y.  Married  Grace  B.  Arnold,  Dayton, 
Ohio,  September  9,  1910.  Commenced  insurance  business  New 
York  City  in  1903  as  Inspector  for  Middle  States  Inspection 
Bureau.  Appointed  Special  Agent  April,  1907  for  Continental. 
Now  State  Agent  for  American  Eagle  Fire.     December  11,  1916. 

Edward  Martin  Liljeblad,  born  April  5,  1888  at  Chicago, 
Illinois.  Parentage  Swedish.  Educated  Hawthorne  Grammar 
School  and  Lake  View  High  School  of  Chicago.  Married  Ruth 
E.  Benson,  September  16,  1915  of  Joliet,  Illinois.  Commenced 
insurance  business  January,  1907  at  Chicago,  doing  general  office 

194 


work.  Appointed  Special  Agent  January,  1913  for  Commercial 
Union  Assurance  Company  and  Affiliated  Companys.  At 
present  Special  Agent  Delaware  Underwriters.     April  16,  1917. 

Chas.  R.  Loomis,  born  Mentor,  Ohio,  October  13,  1859.  Par- 
entage American.  Educated  Mentor,  Ohio.  Married  Flora  E. 
Merrill  May  2,  1883  of  Painesville,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance 
business  in  1881  at  Wahpeton,  Dakota  writing  policies  and  keep- 
ing books.  Appointed  Special  Agent  March,  1886  for  Syndicate 
of  Minneapolis,  Minnesota.  Served  the  Insurance  Company  of 
North  America,  Citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  the  Aetna  Insurance 
Company  as  Special  Agent.     August  21,  1916. 

J.  Edgar  Lyons,  born  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  May  21,  1881. 
Parentage  Irish.  Educated  public  schools  and  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity. Commenced  insurance  business  in  1901  at  St.  Louis, 
Missouri  as  Solicitor  in  local  agency.  Appointed  Special  Agent 
in  1908  for  St.  Louis  Fire  Insurance  Company.  Served  Special 
Agent  with  A.  D.  Baker  General  Agency,  Lansing,  Michigan, 
for  Ohio.  Secretary-Treasurer  and  Manager  Western  Reserve 
Insurance  Company  of  Cleveland.  At  present  Special  Agent 
Continental  Insurance  Company,  New  York.  September  5,  1916. 

Clarence  G.  McCray,  born  Logan,  Ohio,  June  6,  1877.  Par- 
entage Scotch  Irish-German.  Educated  Logan,  Ohio.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  Logan,  in  1896  as  local  agent  with  his 
father.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1902  for  German-American, 
New  York.  Served  as  State  Agent  for  Rochester  German  Under- 
writers for  Ohio  and  Michigan.  In  1912  relinquished  Michigan. 
August  25,  1916. 

Wm.  H.  McGervey,  born  Xenia,  Ohio,  July  7,  1873.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  public  schools,  Xenia.  Married 
Martha  Downs,  April  15,  1913  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced 
insurance  business  1895  at  Xenia  as  local  agent.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  February  9,  1906  for  the  Penna  Fire  Insurance 
Company.     August  28,  1916. 

William  Mank,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  16,  1876.  Paren- 
tage German.  Educated  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Married  Mildred 
Cook  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  April  22,  1916.  Conmmenced  insurance 
business  September  9,  1907  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio  as  Special  Agent 
for  Retail  Druggists  Mutual   Fire.     Served  with  American  of 

195 


Newark   and    Northern   Assurance    Company.      Now    Special 
Agent  for  latter.     September  11,  1916. 

John  R.  Martin,  born  Mechanicsburg,  Ohio,  September  22, 
1873.  Parentage  Scotch  Irish-English.  Educated  Mechanics- 
burg. Married  Alice  M.  Morgan  October  2,  1895  at  Mechanics- 
burg, Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  1895  at  Mechanics- 
burg in  local  agency.  Appointed  Special  Agent  March,  1897  for 
Home  Insurance  Company  of  New  York.  Served  then  with 
Calumet  Insurance  Company  of  Chicago.  Commenced  service 
with  Continental  Insurance  Company  of  New  York  and  still  in 
its  employ.     December  19,  1916. 

Hugh  Law  Meek,  born  Loveland,  Ohio,  August  21,  1880. 
Parentage  English-Scotch.  Educated  public  school,  Cincinnati 
and  Woodville  High.  Married  Evelyn  B.  Turney  April  2,  1913 
Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  May  1,  1901 
at  Chicago  as  clerk.  Appointed  Special  Agent  January,  1906  for 
Hartford  of  Connecticut.     August  21,  1916. 

Rudolph  E.  Momberger,  born  New  York  City,  March  1, 
1868.  Parentage  German  and  English.  Educated  New  York 
City.  Graduated  Grant  University,  Chattanooga,  Tennessee. 
Married  Noema  S.  Smith  of  Scottsboro,  Alabama,  June  24,  1902. 
Commenced  insurance  business  in  1886,  New  York  City  as  clerk. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  April  1,  1909,  New  York  Underwriters 
Agency.     August  21,  1916. 

Chas.  E.  Monroe,  born  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  December  17, 
1867.  Parentage  American.  Educated  public  schools,  Cin- 
cinnati. Commenced  insurance  business  at  Cincinnati  as  solicitor 
for  local  agency.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1892  for  Oakland 
Home,  re-insured  in  Westchester.  Was  for  a  time  in  the  General 
Agency  of  Phoenix  Insurance  Company,  Chicago.  In  1893 
appointed  Special  Agent  of  the  New  York  Underwriters  under 
his  father,  Mr.  W.  M.  Monroe.  With  New  York  Underwriters 
since  1893. 

John  G.  Monrose,  born  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  January  9, 
1858.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Paris,  France.  Married 
May  Ruth  Gunth  of  Dallas,  Texas,  July  3,  1890.  Commenced 
insurance  business  October,  1878  at  Galveston,  Texas  as  clerk. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1885  for  German  of  Freeport.   Served 

196 


as  Independent  Adjuster,  then  Ohio  Rating  Bureau  and  then 
State  Agent  for  Continental  of  Ohio.  Now  Manager  of  General 
Adjustment  Company,  Philadelphia.     August  18,  1919. 

Franklin  F.  Murray,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  21, 
1868.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Ludlow  Grove,  Ohio 
and  Woodward  High  School,  Cincinnati.  Married  May  S. 
Hinckley  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota  November  13,  1890.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  in  1892  at  Louisville,  Kentucky  as 
Rater  for  Louisville  Board.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1893 
for  Hartford  Fire.  Served  with  Local  Board,  Commission  No. 
1,  Rating  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  in  1894  and  1895. 
1896  to  1899  with  the  Phoenix  of  Hartford  for  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  1899  to  1905  with  the  United  States  Fire.  January 
10,  1920. 

Robert  Leitch  Mouk,  born  September  23,  1885  at  Dayton, 
Ohio.  Parentage  American-Canadian.  Educated  Dayton,  Ohio 
Married  Bertine  McFarland  of  Dayton,  June  2,  1908.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  May,  1904  at  Dayton  as  Secretary, 
Montgomery  County  Underwriters  Association.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  December,  1908  for  German  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  Indiana.  Served  Columbia  Insurance  Company  of 
Dayton,  Keystone  Underwriters.  Now  State  Agent  for  latter. 
August  21,  1916. 

John  M.  Neuberger,  born  LaPorte,  Indiana,  April  8,  1869. 
Parentage  American-German.  Educated  public  and  business 
schools  LaPorte,  Indiana.  Commenced  insurance  business  in 
1888,  Indianapolis,  Indiana  as  Stenographer  with  Franklin  of 
Indiana.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  August,  1896  for  Atlas 
Assurance  Company,  Ltd.     August  31,  1916. 

Chas.  Browne  Patterson,  born  Vermilion,  Ohio  April  12, 
1878.  Parentage  Scotch-Irish-English.  Educated  Greenwich, 
Ohio,  Wesleyan  Ohio  University.  Married  Florence  H.  Cum- 
mins February  21,  1906  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  Commenced 
insurance  business  March,  1904  at  Wheeling,  West  Virginia  as 
Inspector  for  West  Virginia  Inspection  Bureau.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  July  1,  1913  for  The  Hamburg-Bremen  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company.      August  27,  1916. 

Fred  Wilson  Peters,  born  Marion,  Ohio,  January  5,  1871. 
Parentage  German.      Educated  Marion,  Ohio.      Married  Mar- 

197 


garet  M.  Peters  of  Marion,  June  22,  1909.  Commenced  insur- 
ance business  April  25,  1886  at  Marion,  Ohio  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  August  11,  1910  for  Standard  Fire 
Insurance  Company  of  Hartford.     December  13,  1916. 

Godfrey  S.  Petrik,  born  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  April  10,  1889. 
Parentage  Hungarian-French.  Educated  Chicago,  Illinois.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  April  15,  1903  at  Chicago  as  file  boy 
for  Providence  Washington  Insurance  Company.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  September  22,  1912  for  Atlas  Assurance  Company. 
Served  City  of  New  York  Insurance  Company  from  September 
1916  to  date.     September  16,  1916. 

Washington  Tullis  Porter,  Jr.,  born  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1876.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Cincinnati 
public  schools  and  Chickering  Institute.  Married  Amanda 
Schroer  of  Cincinnati,  October  18,  1905.  Commenced  insurance 
business  November  7,  1894  at  Cincinnati  as  clerk  in  Phoenix 
Insurance  Company.  Appointed  Special  Agent  November  1, 
1907  for  Calumet  Insurance  Company.  Served  Niagara  Fire 
Insurance  Company  as  State  Agent  from  November  1,  1908  to 
date.     August  21,  1916. 

Frederic  Willis  Ransom,  born  Marengo,  McHenry  County, 
Illinois,  October  4,  1856.  Parentage  American.  Educated 
Lawrence,  Van  Buren  County,  Michigan.  Took  Greek  and 
Latin  course  at  Spring  Arbor  Seminary,  Michigan.  Married 
Cora  A.  Potter  May  14,  1881  at  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  at  Cheyenne,  Wyoming  in  September 
1896  in  local  fire  insurance  business.  Became  Special  Agent 
Providence  Washington  Insurance  Company  traveling  in  Mich- 
igan and  Ohio,  then  being  transferred  to  Iowa  and  Missouri 
field,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Oklahoma  added  later.  Latter 
part  of  1900  transferred  to  Ohio  and  Kentuckv  and  Tennessee. 
April  28,  1917. 

Edwin  Williams  Raynolds,  born  Lincoln,  Nebraska  Novem- 
ber 16,  1884.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Columbus,  Ohio. 
Married  Mildred  Armstrong  of  Columbus,  April  19,  1911.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  January  1,  1907  at  Cleveland  as 
Inspector  with  the  Cleveland  Inspection  Bureau.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  July  1,  1908  for  Insurance  Company  of  North 
America.  Was  appointed  Special  Agent  of  the  Glens  Falls  for 
Ohio,  August  1,  1909.     August  21,  1916. 


198 


Robert  Ludlow  Raynolds,  born  New  York  City,  March  6, 
1857.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Ncav  York  City.  Married 
Miss  Kate  Tatum  of  Chicago,  January  2,  1885.  Commenced 
insurance  business  at  Chicago,  January,  1882  as  examiner  with 
Continental.  Appointed  Special  Agent  January,  1884  for  Con- 
tinental. With  Connecticut  as  State  Agent  since  1885.  January 
13,  1917. 

Earl  A.  Reid,  born  Bowling  Green,  Ohio,  August  30.  1879. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Bowling  Green,  Ohio.  Married 
Alice  E.  Carney  of  Bowling  Green,  April  25,  1911.  Commenced 
insurance  business  at  Bowling  Green,  November  1,  1904  as  local 
agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  November  1,  1915  for  Mercan- 
tile Insurance  Company  of  America.  Served  several  years  with 
North  British  Mercantile  Insurance  Company  of  London  and 
Edinburgh.     August  21,  1916. 

Ivin  E.  Riedinger,  born  at  Randolph,  Ohio,  September  10, 
1879.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Randolph  and  Mount 
Union  College,  Alliance.  Married  Ethel  S.  Heacock  of  Alliance, 
March  21,  1906.  Commenced  insurance  business  June,  1903  at 
Alliance  as  solicitor.  Appointed  Special  Agent  May  1,  1914  for 
Commercial  Union  Assurance  Company,  Ltd.  of  London.  Aug- 
ust 31,  1916. 

Willis  O.  Robb,  born  Marysville,  Ohio,  July  31,  1858.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Marysville,  Ohio  and  Ohio  Wesleyan 
University.  Married  Juliet  Everts  of  College  Hill,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  September  2,  1886.  Commenced  insurance  business  March 
1,  1884  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio  as  clerk  and  adjuster,  Insurance 
Adjustment  Company  of  Cincinnati.  Appointed  Special  Agent 
September  1,  1885  for  Liverpool,  London  &  Globe  Insurance 
Company.  Now  Manager  of  The  New  York  City  Insurance 
Exchange.     August  20,  1916. 

Percy  J.  Robinson,  born  at  Kattellville,  New  York,  Dec- 
ember 9,  1868.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Common 
schools,  Oberlin,  Ohio.  Married  Harriett  E.  Allen,  of  Elyria, 
Ohio,  May  30,  1906.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Whit- 
neys  Point,  New  York,  February,  1892  as  local  agent.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  September,  1907  for  German  American,  New 
York.  Served  three  years  with  Home  of  New  York  also  Aetna 
Insurance  Company  with  which  Company  he  is  still  connected. 
September  9,  1916. 


199 


Albert  W.  Ross,  born  Urbana,  Ohio,  February  16,  1878. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Urbana,  Ohio  and  Columbus, 
Ohio.  Married  Lena  D.  Miller  of  Columbus,  Ohio  in  1897. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Cleveland,  Ohio  in  1907  as 
inspector  and  rater,  Cleveland  Inspection  Bureau.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  January  1,  1915  for  Colonial  Fire  Underwriters  & 
Mechanics  &  Traders.  Served  with  Royal  Exchange  Assurance 
in  Indiana.     August  21,  1916. 

Walter  Henry  Sage,  born  at  Huntington,  Ohio,  November  11, 
1857.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Huntington  and  Well- 
ington, Ohio.  Married  Isabella  Dyer  of  Wellington,  Ohio  in  1879. 
Married  Nellie  G.  Van  Horn  of  Chicago  in  1902.  Commenced 
insurance  business  at  Wellington,  Ohio  in  1880  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1882  for  Firemans'  Fund.  Served 
Northern  of  England  eight  years  and  is  now  General  Manager  for 
German  American.     September  4,  1916. 

Robert  D.  Safford,  born  Grand  Haven,  Michigan,  March  16, 
1885.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Lansing,  Michigan. 
Married  Alta  M.  Beardsley  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  August  15,  1910. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Detroit,  September  1,  1902  as 
office  boy.  Appointed  June  1st,  1910,  Special  Agent  for  Mich- 
igan Fire  &  Marine  Insurance  Company.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  L  &  L  &  G  November,  1915  and  State  Agent  September, 
1916  in  which  capacity  he  now  serves.     September  23,  1916. 

Walter  A.  Sawyer,  born  August  7,  1881  at  Piqua,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Marysville,  Ohio  and  North- 
western Unversity.  Married  Cornelia  Cole  Sellers  of  Marys- 
ville, September  15,  1908.  Commenced  insurance  business  at 
Marysville  in  1900  as  clerk  in  his  father's  office.  Appointed 
Special  Agent  March,  1906  for  Springfield  Fire  and  Marine.  Is 
now  State  Agent  for  Firemans  Fund  Insurance  Company  of 
California.     September  11,  1916. 

Louis  H.  Schweer,  born  January  10,  1871  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Parentage  German-American.  Educated  parochial  school,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio  and  St.  Xavier,  Cincinnati.  Married  Ida  F.  Hobing 
of  Cincinnati  in  1887.  Commenced  insurance  business  March, 
1886  at  Cincinnati  with  the  Old  Cincinnati  L^nderwriters  Associa- 
tion.    Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1896  for  Washington  Fire  of 

200 


Cincinnati.  Served  with  Agricultural,  Firemen's  of  Baltimore, 
Northwestern  National,  Cincinnati  Mutual,  Nord-Deutsche  as 
Special  Agent  since  1914.     August  21,  1916. 

George  B.  Sedgwick,  born  April  29,  1870  at  Negaunee,  Mich- 
igan. Parentage  English.  Educated  Ishpeming,  Michigan, 
High  School,  Racine  College  Grammar.  Went  to  Yale  two  years. 
Commenced  insurance  business  November  15,  1893  at  Ishpeming, 
Michigan  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  November  3, 
1906  for  The  Bierce-Sage  General  Agency.  Served  as  Special 
Agent  Western  Factory  Insurance  Association  several  years. 
Now  State  Agent  for  German  and  German  Alliance  for  Ohio. 
August  21,  1916. 

Walter  G.  Shannon,  born  October  10,  1866  at  Piqua,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Piqua,  Ohio,  Miami  University 
and  Ohio  State.  Married  Louise  Murphy  September  18,  1890  at 
Greenville,  Ohio.  Commenced  insurance  business  October,  1895 
at  Eaton,  Ohio  in  firm  of  Farr  &  Shannon,  Appointed  Special 
Agent  January,  1904  for  Anchor  of  Cincinnati.  Now  State  Agent 
for  American  of  Newark.     August  22,  1916. 

Thomas  Henry  Smith,  born  at  Jamestown,  Ohio,  January, 
1849.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Jamestown,  Ohio  and 
Dr.  Story's  Private  College,  Bowersville,  Ohio.  Married  Emma 
R.  PauUin  of  Jamestown,  February,  1870.  Commenced  insurance 
business  in  1877  at  Jamestown  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  in  1883  for  Firemen's  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  Served  several 
years  as  State  Agent  for  German  of  Freeport,  Illinois.  Now  State 
Agent  the  Allemannia  Fire  Insurance  Compay  of  Pittsburgh. 
October  16,  1916 

H.  J.  Shreffler,  born  at  Aronsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  March  26, 
1847.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Sandusk\',  Ohio.  Mar- 
ried Fannie  Fouser  of  Akron.  Commenced  insurance  business  at 
Akron  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1893  for  Hart- 
ford of  Connecticut.  Now  Independent  Adjuster  of  losses.  Sep- 
tember 12,  1916. 

Paul  Bergen  Sommers,  born  July  3,  1885  at  Franklin,  Ohio. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Dayton,  Ohio.  Graduated  from 
Lake  Forest  LIniversity,  Lake  Forest,  Illinois.  Married  Florence 
Adams  of  Denver,  Colorado,  December  24,  1914.     Commenced 


201 


insurance  business  at  Denver,  Colorado,  June  20,  1908  as  Special 
Agent  for  Scottish  Union  &  National  Insurance  Company.  Now 
State  Agent  of  same  company  for  Ohio. 

H.  L.  Sowards,  born  June  13,  1891  at  Greenup,  Kentucky. 
Parentage  Scotch-French.  Educated  Armour  Technical,  Chicago, 
Cincinnati  Law  School.  Married  Cornelia  Smith  of  Cincinnati, 
January  7,  1915.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Cincinnati, 
June,  1913  as  Special  Agent  for  Norwich  Union.  Now  State 
Agent  same  Company  for  Ohio  and  Kentucky.     August  25,  1916. 

Arch  C.  Speed,  born  in  Kentucky.  Educated  common  schools 
Louisville,  Kentucky.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Chicago 
in  1883  as  chief  clerk  for  Ohio  Fire  Underwriters  Association. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  and  Adjuster  in  1895  for  L.  &  L.  &  G. 
Insurance  Company.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1897  for 
Providence-Washington  Insurance  Company.  Now  State  Agent 
for  American  Central  Insurance  Company  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Daniel  M.  Tanner,  born  September  4,  1858  at  Richwood, 
Ohio.  Married  Jessie  F.  Graham  of  Richwood,  May  22,  1883. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  February  1, 
1885  as  clerk  in  office  of  Western  Assurance  Company.  Appoint- 
ed Special  Agent  in  1900  for  Western  &  British  America  Assurance 
Company,  Toronto,  Canada.  Served  Citizens  of  Baltimore 
several  years  and  is  now  State  Agent  of  Cleveland  National. 
August  28,  1916. 

Ralph  Henry  Taylor,  born  September  2,  1882  at  Terre  Haute, 

Indiana.  Parentage  English  and  American.  Educated  ward 
and  high  school,  Terre  Haute.  Married  Miss  C.  A.  Renick  of 
Columbus,  Ohio,  February  17,  1913.  Commenced  insurance 
business  at  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  July  1,  1898,  as  clerk  in  local 
agency,  Allen  &  Kelley.  Special  Agent  per  diem  1901  to  1907  for 
Traders  of  Chicago,  later  St.  Paul  F.  &  M.  Served  Western 
Reserve  of  Cleveland,  Indiana  &  Illinois.  Special  Agent  Califor- 
nia Insurance  Company  and  Special  Agent  for  St.  Paul  F.  &  M. 
August  28,  1916. 

Edward  O.  Thomson,  born  May  24,  1875  at  Montevideo, 
Uruguay.  Parentage  Scotch-American.  Educated  Colegio, 
Nacional,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentine  Republic.  Graduated  from 
Ohio   Wesleyan    University,    Delaware,    Ohio.      Married    Lyda 


202 


Dumm,  of  Columbus  in  1899.  Commenced  insurance  business 
at  Indianapolis,  Indiana  in  1906  as  inspector.  Appointed  General 
Inspector  August,   1912  for  N.  B.  &  M.      September  5,  1916. 

George  W.  Thrush,  born  Lithopolis,  Ohio  in  1864.  Paren- 
tage American-English.  Married  Pauline  Creps  of  Canal  Win- 
chester, in  1888.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Lithopolis, 
Ohio  in  1893  as  local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1894  for 
Franklin  of  Columbus.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1908  for 
National  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford.      August  28,  1916. 

Glenn  L.  Thrush,  born  in  1890  at  Lithopolis,  Ohio.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Canal  Winchester,  Ohio.  Married 
Gladys  Williams  of  Canal  Winchester  in  1915.  Commenced 
insurance  business  at  Canal  Winchester  in  1908  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1915  for  National  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  Hartford.  Still  serv^ing  in  this  capacity.  August 
28,  1916.' 

Ross  S.  Tidrick,  born  Sherodsville,  Ohio,  April  2,  1875.  Paren- 
tage American.  Educated  Sherodsville  country  schools  and 
College  at  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.  Married  Anna  M.  Newell 
of  Leavittsville,  Ohio.  December  21,  1918.  Commenced  insur- 
ance business  at  Sherodsville  in  1894.  Appointed  Special  Agent 
September  1,  1911  for  Springfield  Fire  and  IMarine. 

Edward  W.  Tinsley,  born  December  25,  1877  at  Barbourville, 
Kentucky.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Barbourville.  Ken- 
tucky. Attended  L^nion  College.  Married  Irma  Sellers  of  Cov- 
ington, Kentucky,  December  23,  1902.  Commenced  insurance 
business  April,  1907  at  Minneapolis,  Minnesota  as  Inspector, 
Rating  Bureau.  Appointed  Special  Agent  August,  1910  for 
Standard  Fire  of  Hartford.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  1914  for 
Insurance  Company  of  North  America  and  still  serving  in  that 
capacity.     August  14,  1916. 

John  Richards  Vernon,  born  January  14,  1842  near  Salem, 
Ohio.  Parentage  English-Irish-Scotch.  Educated  Water  Valley 
near  Salem.  Married  Mary  Fleck  of  Alleghany,  PennsyKania, 
September  7,  1865.  Commenced  insurance  business  at  Salem  in 
1868  as  local  agent.  Organized  the  Ohio  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pany in  1876  and  1877  and  served  as  Secretary  until  1901.  when 
he  was  made  President  and  still  holds  this  position.  October 
9,  1916. 


203 


John  M.  Wallace,  born  April  10,  1839  at  Camden,  Delaware. 
ParcMUaj^e  American.  Educated  free  school  and  Dover  High 
School  of  Delaware.  Married  Catherine  Riegle  of  Cincinnati, 
August  2,  1866.  Commenced  insurance  business  in  1866  at  Ger- 
mantown,  Ohio  as  local  agent  for  the  Aetna.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  in  1870  for  Cooper  of  Dayton.  Served  with  Boston  Under- 
writers &  Washington  F.  &  M.  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
London.  Now  State  Agent  for  National  Insurance  Company  of 
Hartford.     October  4,  1916. 

Herbert  M.  Wardle,  born  in  1865  at  Northville,  Long  Island, 
New  York.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Northville  Acad- 
amies  and  Bridgehampton  Institute.  Married  Mary  M.  Prince 
of  Houghton,  Michigan  in  1895.  Commenced  insurance  business 
at  Ionia,  Michigan  in  1884  in  local  agency.  Appointed  Special 
Agent  in  1888  for  Exchange  of  New  York.  Served  Western 
Manufacturers  Mutual,  Armstrong  Mutuals,  Lancashire  until 
1901.  Since  then  Special  Agent  for  Citizens  of  Missouri.  Aug- 
ust 21,  1916. 

Jacob  A.  Weinland,  born  November  16,  1845  in  Butler 
County,  Ohio.  Parentage  American.  Educated  West  Elkton, 
Ohio.  Married  Anna  M.  Shauck  of  Columbus,  January,  1914. 
Commenced  insurance  business  at  Middletown,  Ohio  in  1870  as 
local  agent.  Appointed  Special  Agent  May  1874  for  Continental 
of  New  York  in  Indiana.  Appointed  State  Agent  in  1892  of 
Fire  Association  of  Philadelphia  for  Ohio  and  is  still  with  that 
Company.     September  2,  1916. 

Joseph  Cannon  Wharton,  born  July  29,  1876  at  Chicago, 
Illinois.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Chicago.  Married 
Edna  Vanosdal  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  January  17,  1913.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  at  Chicago,  August  11,  1891  as  office 
boy.  Appointed  Special  Agent  August,  1907  for  Sun  Insurance 
Office  of  London.  Now  State  Agent  and  Adjuster  for  latter 
Company.     September  6,  1916. 

George  M.  Winwood,  born  February  2,  1843  at  Springfield, 
Ohio.  Parentage  English  and  American.  Educated  Spring- 
field. Attended  Wittenberg  College.  Married  Kate  H.  Cox 
of  Hamilton,  Ohio,  December  8,  1869.  Commenced  insurance 
business  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October,  1870  as  Special  and  State 

204 


Agent  for  Phoenix  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford.  Served 
continuously  with  above  company  excepting  one  year  when  he 
was  with  Commission  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.      August   21,    1916. 

Rodney  D.  Wiley,  born  May  17,  1884  at  Peoria,  Illinois. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  Peoria  and  Chicago.  Married 
Callye  L.  Grigsby  of  Oklahoma  City,  October  19,  1910.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  at  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  September, 
1908  as  Inspector  Indiana  Inpsection  Bureau.  Appointed  Spec- 
ial Agent  February,  1912  for  A.  D.  Baker  &  Company  General 
Agency.  Served  Oklahoma  Inspection  Bureau  at  Oklahoma 
City.  Also  served  with  Bates  Adjustment  Company  of  that 
city  a  short  time.  Is  now  Special  Agent  for  the  Yorkshire  Insur- 
ance Company.     August  21,  1916. 

Freeman  Wilson,  born  September  11,  1878  at  San  Francisco, 
California.  Parentage  American-Canadian.  Educated  public 
schools  Logansport,  Indiana  and  Lake  Forest  Academy,  Illinois. 
Married  Jessie  N.  Thompson  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  January 
2,  1911.  Commenced  insurance  business  in  1903  at  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota  as  clerk  in  local  agency,  then  entered  Home  office 
Northwestern  F.  &  M.  Served  American  of  Newark  in  Illinois, 
Svea  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  Peoples  National,  then  was 
appointed  Special  Agent  for  Starkweather  &  Shepley  Companies, 
Rhode  Island,  Phoenix  Union,  National.     September  11,  1916. 

Clark  Oliver  Wood,  born  February  28,  1863  in  Clark  County, 
Ohio.  Parentage  English-German.  Educated  Springfield  pub- 
lic schools.  Attended  Willis  &  Nelsons  Business  College.  Mar- 
ried Nellie  Fowler  Grant  of  Springfield,  June  15,  1893.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  May,  1886  in  J.  S.  Elliott's  office. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  December,  1895  for  Dayton  of  Dayton. 
Re-insured  in  Home  of  New  York,  and  was  appointed  Special 
Agent  for  same  Company  February,  1896.     December  8,  1916. 

Cyrus  Woodbury,  born  October  1,  1853  at  Union  City.  Ind. 
Parentage  American.  Educated  public  and  high  schools.  Union 
City.  Attended  law  school  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  Married 
Lenora  A.  Swain  of  Union  City,  May  13,  1880.  Commenced 
insurance  business  at  Union  City,  January  1,  1880  as  local  agent. 
Appointed  Special  Agent  July  6,  1886  for  Northern  Assurance. 
Now    State    Agent    for    Queen    Insurance    Company    for    Ohio. 

205 


Frank  Eldridge  Woods,  born  April  10,  1888  at  Robinson, 
Texas.  Educated  Robinson  Academy,  Robinson  Texas,,  and 
Baylor  University,  Waco,  Texas.  Commenced  insurance  business 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  March,  1908  as  chief  clerk  Norfolk  Fire  Insur- 
ance Corporation.  Appointed  Special  Agent  in  March  1913  for 
Citizen  of  Baltimore.  Now  Special  Agent  for  Sun  of  London, 
headquarters  at  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

George  A.  Yuncker,  born  October  17,  1878  at  Mansfield, 
Ohio.  Parentage  American.  Educated  Mansfield  and  Chicago. 
Married  Dehlia  Meily  of  Mansfield,  August  27,  1913.  Com- 
menced insurance  business  at  Chicago,  July  3,  1897  as  office 
boy.  Appointed  Special  Agent  August,  1905  for  Royal  Insurance 
Company. 


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